


We've Come So Far My Dear, Look How We Have Grown

by SequinSmile



Series: Our Little Universe [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drama, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Fluff, Found Family, Hotly, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Romance, They love each other, hotchniss, some case stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SequinSmile/pseuds/SequinSmile
Summary: AU post Season 7 finale, set in my "Our Little Universe" seriesHe asked her to stay, so she did. And they built their life from there.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss
Series: Our Little Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087001
Comments: 32
Kudos: 74





	1. The Problem with Hormones

Whilst Emily totally understood that at almost 7 months pregnant she had to stay at the precinct whilst the rest of the team were out in the field, it did not mean that she necessarily liked it. It meant that she spent a disproportionate amount of time on victimology, and some days when she went to bed and closed her eyes the images from the crime scene photos were scored onto the back of her eyes. 

She was trying to make the most of it though, knowing that depending on when the team next picked up a case she would likely be unable to fly for much longer. Hotch was already getting wary of letting her come along, so she knew she was counting the days until she was left behind in Quantico. 

Today she was struggling to focus, which is how she found herself following JJ, who had stayed behind to help her, to the break room for her second cup of tea in the last hour. She was sure Hotch would have something to say about her caffeine intake today if he was around, but given that he was the cause of her distraction today she was giving herself a pass. 

Emily was completely at the mercy of her hormones. Early on in the pregnancy it was something she had really struggled with, especially when combined with how sick she was in her first trimester. Her ability to compartmentalise was severely impacted and she had found it very difficult to be under the control of her emotions, rather than being able to control them almost to the point of fault. 

The main issue right now though was that she was finding her husband irresistible. It wasn’t exactly new in itself. The had always had a healthy sex life, and she thought that he was the most attractive man she had ever seen. The problem she was currently facing was that she wanted him all the time, to the point where it was becoming an inconvenience.

Once she started her second trimester she knew to expect it. All the pregnancy books had told her that it was a common thing for pregnant women to experience. What she hadn’t expected was that the feeling had continued and she was barreling towards her third trimester without any sign of it stopping. 

It had really come to a head for her today on the jet to the small Texas town they were currently in. She sat opposite him around the table onboard, with JJ next to him as they went over the case files. 

Whilst Emily always found Hotch attractive, recently serious work mode Hotch was really doing it for her. The frustration he clearly felt over the actions of the UNSUB left a scowl on his face that did things to her she didn’t fully want to admit. 

Emily was incredibly close to going out of her mind. So she felt like she had no choice but to break one of her own rules and discuss something incredibly personal on work time.

JJ was her friend, she justified to herself, she could ask about this. 

“JJ can I ask you something?” She asked, attempting to sound nonchalant. 

“Is it anything to do with how you were looking at Hotch earlier like you wanted to mount him right there and then on the jet?” JJ replied bluntly. 

Emily almost spat out her tea at that. 

“JJ.” Emily hissed, quickly looking around to see if any other offices around them had heard. She then sighed. “Is it really that obvious?”

She didn’t think she could cope if Morgan or Reid had noticed. Or God forbid, Rossi. 

“Don’t worry, the others won’t have noticed. I only caught on because I’ve been there.” JJ explained, but continued when Emily rose her eyebrows a little. “Not about Hotch, _obviously._ When I was pregnant I couldn’t get enough of Will once I was past my first trimester. It only went away in the last few weeks leading up to when I gave birth.” 

“Oh God, don’t say that.” Emily said exasperated. They started to walk away from the break room back towards the conference room that had been set up for the team during their stay. 

“Come on, surely it’s not that bad being so attracted to your husband you want to jump him.”

“Of course not, I always find him attractive,” Emily said, purposely ignoring the last part of her friends sentence. “The issue is all the hormones making me want him all the time. It’s distracting.” 

They walked into the conference room which had been empty until their return. They sat down at two chairs next to each other and JJ looked at her friend and she watched as Emily rubbed a part of her bump where she must have been feeling the baby kick. 

“When I was pregnant with Henry, Will and I didn’t even live in the same state for some of the time. You and Hotch work and live together - surely you get enough chances to scratch that itch.” 

Emily had always been very tight-lipped about her sex life with Hotch, knowing that he found the idea of other people knowing details about that part of their personal lives deeply uncomfortable. Not only was he more old fashioned in that sense, but their colleagues were his subordinates at work and he didn’t find it appropriate for them to know anything like that about him. Emily respected his wishes, so despite JJ and, mainly, Garcia’s probing of the years she had largely kept it to herself. Apart from the odd comment here or there when she had one too many drinks on a girls night out. 

“That’s the problem. It’s not like he’s not,” Emily paused trying to think of the appropriate word, not wanting to embarrass herself or Hotch, “keeping me satisfied.” She blushed slightly, and not for the first time in her relationship with the man she cursed him for some of his more prudish nature rubbing off on her a little. She had been much more inhibited when talking about these things when she was younger.

She was briefly distracted from the conversation by a sharp kick in her abdomen, causing her to gasp slightly. JJ smiled at her, remembering the feeling well herself. Emily grabbed JJ’s hand and brought it to her bump over where the baby was currently moving around. 

“He or she are super active today.” JJ remarked, removing her hand after a few moments.

“As always.” Emily replied, a smile on her face.

“Still not tempted to find out what you’re having?” 

“Not at all actually. Part of me thought I’d change my mind, but I’m really enjoying not knowing.” 

They sat in companionable silence for a couple minutes after that, drinking their teas and waiting for the team to get back from their various tasks that afternoon. 

“For what it’s worth, I think you should just talk to him about it.” JJ said softly.  
“And say what exactly? Aaron - I think the way you glare at local cops is so unbelievably hot I haven’t been able to focus on victimology all afternoon.” She complained as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with the hand that wasn’t holding her mug. 

“Well maybe not exactly that.” JJ laughed. 

Before they could continue any further, Hotch and Morgan walked into the room together, back from speaking to one of the victims families, the former with a familiar glare on his face. Emily and JJ looked at each other and both laughed, causing Hotch and Morgan to both be confused. 

“What are you two laughing at?” Hotch asked, unsure what caused their reaction.

“Nothing.” Emily said, clearing her throat in an attempt to stop her laughter. “What did you find out?” 

Hotch and Morgan exchanged a look before Morgan shrugged his shoulders.

“Women, man.” He whispered under his breath as he walked past his boss.

Hotch was going to ask again, but then the rest of the team filed back into the room and the moment was lost. 

______________________

They got back to the hotel room late that night, and Emily sighed deeply as she sat on the edge of the bed. She leant back slightly, putting one hand on the mattress to support her weight and the other on her bump. She watched Hotch walk around the room, busying himself with taking off his jacket and tie and hanging them up. He un-cuffed his shirt, and rolled his sleeves up as he went to sort out the bags of take out Emily had unceremoniously dumped on the coffee table in their room. The sight of his forearms coming into view made her groan.

“Oh god.” She said out loud before she could stop herself, and she cursed the heat she could feel pooling in her belly. She closed her eyes, cursing herself for being so turned on at her husbands damn forearms, and was startled slightly when she felt him touch her arm. She opened her eyes to look at him

“Em, are you ok?” He asked concerned. 

“I’m fine.” She squeaked, not even sounding convincing to her own ears. 

“Emily.” He moved and sat next to her on the bed, putting his hand over his on her bump. “Is the baby ok?”

“Baby is fine.” She said gently, smiling at him gently. “Mommy on the other hand is going slowly insane.” 

“Hormones again?” He said with a slight smirk on his face, giving her a look that let her know he knew exactly what was wrong. She opened her mouth in shock and made an indignant noise.

“You did that with your sleeves on purpose, you jerk!” She exclaimed, hitting him very lightly on his chest.

“I can’t help that you find me irresistible.” He was fully smiling now, both his dimples out and the stress of the day gone from his face. 

She would be mad at him if she didn’t want him so damn much.  
“Stop making fun of me.” She grumbled.

“Em, I’m not making fun of you. I promise.” He leant in and kissed her, hard, letting her know exactly what he was planning on doing for the rest of the evening. They pulled apart ever so slightly.

“What about the food?” She panted, not particularly caring.

“We can eat it later.” He replied before leaning back in and guiding them both down to lay on the bed.

______________________

The next morning in the hotel lobby JJ gave her a knowing look as her and Hotch arrived a few minutes later than planned. 

Emily glared at her friend, and wondered to herself what the chances were that Garcia didn’t already know about her conversation with JJ yesterday.


	2. Mothers and Daughters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Just a quick note that if you haven't read my other stories this is directly connected to Christmas at the Embassy. In that story it is revealed that (spoiler alert) Elizabeth Prentiss has decided to run for senate. This particular story line will run throughout these oneshots. 
> 
> This would be set around February 2014.
> 
> I was trying to confirm Hotch's age, and according to Criminal Minds Wiki Hotch is actually younger than Emily...so canonically would be 42 in 2014. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense given his career and the fact he worked for her mother when she was at college. I've always assumed he is around 9 years older than Emily, so lets go with that. That makes their ages as follows:
> 
> Hotch: 52, Emily: 43, Jack:9

Penelope Garcia was unsure what to do. On one hand, Emily really needed to know what she had just discovered. On the other hand Emily was 8 months pregnant, and had sporadically been having Braxton Hicks contractions for the last couple of weeks. When the rest of the team had left for a case two days prior Hotch had tasked Garcia with looking after his wife in his absence. Of course her friend hated being coddled, and Hotch knew this just as much as she did so they were being as subtle as possible in their approach.

After reading what was on her screen for the third time Garcia decided that she couldn’t keep it from Emily in good faith. There was a chance Hotch wouldn’t be happy with this, but if Emily ever found out that she had known about this when she inevitably saw it herself she knew she’d be in trouble. A very pregnant Emily Prentiss was scarier than Hotch could ever dream of being. 

Decision made, Garcia printed the article off and walked towards the main bullpen. Emily wasn’t at her desk, but she could see that the light was on in Hotch’s office. She had taken to doing case work from the couch in there since she had been grounded on going on cases. The chair at her desk wasn’t particularly kind to her back. Garcia walked quickly up the stairs and knocked on the open door, getting her friends attention. Emily looked up from the file in her hand and smiled.

“Hey, have you heard from the others?” Emily asked. The last they had heard half the team where out speaking to the families of victims, and the other half had gone to the dump site of another body discovered that morning. 

The UNSUB was devolving, and on a selfish level Emily hoped that meant they would catch him soon so she could get her husband back home. She didn’t like that he was away and she couldn’t be with him, but she knew she had to get more used to it given her upcoming maternity leave. 

“No, nothing new yet.” Garcia replied, hoping that her nervous energy wasn’t as obvious as it seemed. 

“He hasn’t sent you in here to check on me has he?” Emily asked, narrowing her eyes at the technical analyst. She knew all about Hotch and Garcia’s scheme to keep her stress levels as low as possible, both of them having come close to losing their minds the week before when she had started having Braxton Hicks contractions during a briefing. Oddly, Reid had been the only person in the room who had kept their cool apart from JJ in that moment. 

“No, I just came to show you something.” She took a step further into the room, the printed article in her hands behind her back. “You haven’t had any more contractions have you?”  
“Pen.”

“Ok, so hypothetically speaking I may have set up alerts on all our names a while ago incase we came up in any online articles at all.” She explained

“Hypothetically?” Emily asked, eyebrow raised at her friend.

“Largely just for anything written about the cases we work in the local press.” Garcia tried to justify.

“Does Aaron know you do this?” Emily asked with an amused smile on her face, her husband’s given name slipping out in the work environment, since she had the distinct impression this conversation was friend to friend, as opposed to colleague to colleague. 

“That's not important.” Garcia said quickly, before holding the print out of the article that had brought her in here in the first place towards Emily. “This pinged up on your name today and I thought you should see it.” 

Emily took the paper from Garcia and her eyes widened as she took in the headline.

From Ambassador to Senate hopeful - Elizabeth Prentiss on politics, family and her daughter coming back from the dead. 

“Oh my God.” Emily exclaimed, staring at the paper with her eyes and mouth open wide in shock. 

“There is nothing too detailed in there, Doyle isn’t named.” Garcia explained, her voice catching slightly on the mans name. Even though several years had passed now it was still a difficult topic for all of them. “It says you had to fake your death for your own protection, there is nothing in there that wouldn’t be in the public domain.” 

Garcia stood there nervously as Emily continued to stare at the top piece of paper in her hands, not making any move to continue reading.

“I assume you had no idea?” Garcia asked after a couple of minutes, finally taking a seat on the couch hoping for some sign of life from Emily so she didn’t have to explain to Hotch that she had broken his wife.

“Not at all.” Emily replied, removing one of the hands clutching the paper to run it down her face. “She is unbelievable.” She said, the frustration and the magnitude of the situation suddenly hitting her. “How could she do this without telling me?” 

Before Garcia could respond, Emily’s phone alarm went off. Emily reached for it and turned it off.

“I need to go pick Jack up from school.” She said, standing from her place on the couch, gathering her paperwork and the article and shoving them into her bag.

“What are you going to do?” 

“I have no idea. Calling and yelling at her is my instinct but I don’t think that is the smartest idea.”  
“How about you go pick up Little Hotch and take him home. When I’m done here I’ll come round and stay with him whilst you go speak to her?” Garcia offered, “It might be a more constructive conversation than over the phone.” 

“I can’t ask you do to that.” 

“You’re not asking, I’m offering. Besides, this way I get to hang out with your adorable little boy.” 

Emily stared at Garcia for a second, before taking the couple steps between them to give her a hug. 

“Thank you.”  
“My pleasure. Now get your cute butt out of here and I’ll text you when I’m on the way later.” 

“Thanks, Pen.” Emily said again, as she gathered the rest of her things and left the office. Garcia watched her leave, and continued to hope she had done the right thing in telling her. The sound of her phone going off interrupted her thoughts. She looked down and saw Morgan’s name across the screen, smiling as she answered the phone.

“World’s sexiest technical analyst speaking.” 

______________________________________

“She did what?” Hotch exclaimed through the phone. 

“I know it’s a whole new level. Even for her.” Emily replied, her phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder as she cleared the table from her and Jack’s dinner. Jack was still sat at the table, finishing some homework he had been putting off from the moment he had entered the house after school.

“What are you going to say to her?”  
“I don’t know,” She said as she put the plates in the kitchen. She looked through to the dining room and saw that Jack seemed suitably distracted. “I cannot believe she did this without telling me. What if Jack finds it.” She whispered the last part into the phone, not wanting the boy to hear his own name.

“Em, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“They have computer access at school. Are you telling me if the internet existed when you were a kid you wouldn’t have done a search on your parents names?” 

“He’s 9 Em, not 19. I think we have a few more years before he starts thinking along those lines.”

“Don’t minimise this, Aaron.” She said, an edge to her voice.

“I’m not, I promise sweetheart. You’re just worrying about the wrong things right now.” 

The doorbell went off, preventing her from replying.

“That will be Garcia, I better go.” 

“Call me after?” 

“Aaron, you’re still at the precinct. You won’t exactly be having an early night.” She protested, walking towards the front door. He’d only called her in the first place because Garcia had told him something was up when he called for a phone trace after Emily had left Quantico. 

“I don’t care, Emily. Call me.” 

“Ok fine. I’ll call you.” She smiled, opening the door and signalling Garcia to come into the house.  
“Love you.”

“Love you too.” She replied before hanging up the phone and closing the door behind Garcia. She immediately started putting her coat on, wanting to get the rest of the evening over with. 

“Thanks so much for this again. I really need to get this sorted if I am going to get any sleep tonight.”  
“No problem at all sweetness.” 

“Jack,” Emily yelled towards the dining room. “Your Auntie Pen is here.” 

In response Jack came barrelling into the room and careened into Garcia, giving her a massive hug. Emily always thought that it was a miracle that the young boy had suffered so much in his short life, but had such a big heart. 

“Hey Aunt Pen!” 

“Hey Little Hotch!” She replied with just as much enthusiasm, “Ready to have fun tonight?”

“Emily says I need to finish my homework before we play.” He mumbled slightly, raising his eyes towards the woman in question.

“Well I think she’s right, but together we can make quick work of it.” Garcia conspired with him, throwing Emily a wink over his head. “Now why don’t you give Emily a hug - I think she needs it.” 

Jack left Garcia’s side hugged Emily as best he could given her large baby bump. She smiled and put her arms around him too. 

“Love you, Emily.” He said, giving her a bit of a squeeze. He then quickly kissed her stomach, as he had often seen his father do, “Love you too, baby.” 

“And we both love you.” She leant down and kissed the top of his head. “ Be good for Aunt Pen. If I’m not home by bed time I’ll see you in the morning ok.” 

Jack nodded the affirmative and stepped away, before motioning to Garcia that she should follow him to the dining room. Garcia obliged, turning back to Emily as she walked away.

“Good luck.” She mouthed to her friend. 

Emily knew she’d need it. 

__________________

She let out a breath before knocking on her the door to her Mother’s office. The house maid had been surprised to see her when she had knocked on the door a few minutes earlier. Emily had never shown up unannounced at her parents house before, and it had only occurred to her when she arrived that her mother might not be in, but thankfully she was.

She heard her mother beckon her in, and she entered the office. 

“Hello Mother.” She said neutrally. Her mother looked up to her, and if Elizabeth was shocked at the sight of her heavily pregnant daughter entering her office this late on a seemingly random Tuesday evening, she didn’t show it. 

“You look tired.”

“Being 8 months pregnant will do that to you.” Emily replied as she lowered herself into a chair opposite her mother’s desk. “Hello to you too, by the way.”

Elizabeth continued to work on whatever paperwork she was looking at for a few seconds, before setting her pen down and looking at Emily directly. 

“Where is your guard dog? It’s not very often I get to see you without him close by.”

“If you are referring to my husband, he’s in Nevada on a case.” Her tone was clipped, and her attempt to stay calm throughout this was already fraying. She decided it was best to cut straight to the point. “I saw the article, Mother. I think we need a chat.” 

“What about?”

“What about? You can’t just publicly talk about my life like that without letting me know. It’s personal. Especially something like the small matter of me having to fake my death.” 

“You said you didn’t want to be involved in my politics.”

“Actually, what I said was Aaron and I didn’t want to involve our family in your campaign. But you went ahead and involved me anyway.” Emily corrected. 

“It’s public record that you died and then were miraculously not dead anymore, Emily. I needed to address it somehow before one I was blind sighted with it.”

“A heads up would have been nice, Mother. I have my own family to think of.” She said, exasperated by her mother’s inability to see what she had done wrong. “My kids will see that someday. If they were to ever Google my name or yours that article is going to come up.”

“The boy is 9, and your child is still inside of you. I think you’re overthinking it.” Elizabeth said dismissively. 

“The boy is called Jack. And he’s my son.” 

“I’m not going through this again. Besides, you were dead for 7 months. He’s old enough to remember that.” 

“Jack never thought I was dead.” Emily retorted.

“What?” Elizabeth asked. She genuinely looked shocked. 

“Aaron never told him I was dead. He had already been through so much in losing his mom, and Aaron decided to tell him I was on a secret mission and wouldn’t be around for a while.” 

“So the Hotchner’s got to know my daughter was alive, whilst I mourned her? Fantastic.” 

“Mother-”

“I thought you were dead for 7 months, Emily. Your father and I mourned you, and Aaron Hotchner got to know you were alive.” 

“I can’t imagine how hard that was for you, and I am so sorry. But if you think for a moment any of it was easy on Aaron you’re greatly mistaken.”

She had always known it couldn’t have been an easy decision on him, but he had once told her on the anniversary of her fake death how difficult he found it even now. To have forced her hand on the matter since she was in no capacity to make the decision herself at the time. 

“Then you come back and just marry the man who made the decision to take you from us.” Elizabeth continued as if her daughter had not spoken. 

Emily scoffed at that, anger and frustration climbing through her faster than she would like. 

“You make it sound like he locked me in a room, forced me to marry him and bare his child.” 

“It did all happen rather quickly.”

“Quickly? Emily scoffed again. She rested her hands on her stomach and tried to ground herself. This conversation was going way off her plan, and her blood pressure was rising as it always did around her mother. As a result the baby was moving around like crazy. “I was back for a year before anything even happened between us. Did I even tell you how it started?”

Her mother simply shook her head at that. Their relationship was tricky. She had never had that friendship with her mother she hoped she would have with her own children when they were older. Never confided in her, or spoke about anything deeply personal. Largely because of this - the judgement, the condescending way her mother spoke to her even now when she was 43. 

“When I came back, I so badly wanted things to go back to how they had been before. Everyone else did too. So I tried. I tried so hard to be the Emily Prentiss I had always been but it was so hard.” Tears started to gather in her eyes as they always did when she thought of that time, the trauma she had experienced. “I was flailing, and Aaron was the only one who addressed it. I’m sure the others noticed, they are profilers after all, but he came to me about it. Said I could tell him when I was having a bad day.” 

She smiled when she thought of that. At the time her sweet, caring husband had simply been her boss and her friend. It was strange to think how much had changed since then.

“There were so many bad days, Mother. More than I care to admit. It all came to a head around the time JJ got married. He saw it. Asked me for coffee and when I told him I was thinking of leaving for London he asked me to stay.” She let out a laugh at that, knowing how ridiculous and cliched it all was. “I thought he had lost it. He had a girlfriend, and we had never been more than friends. But I knew there had always been something there between us just under the surface and I wondered if maybe that was the thing that could put me back together.” 

“So you stayed.” 

“So I stayed.” She nodded, “And yes it’s only been two years since then and in that time we’ve got married, I’ve adopted his son and we are having a baby. I get that it might seem rushed to you, and that this isn’t what you would have wanted for me. But I am happy. Happier than I have been for a long time. Isn’t that enough?” 

“I just worry about you, Emily. That one day you’ll look back and realise you just married the man you deem saved your life instead of truly living.”

“Is that what all of this has been about? All of the animosity towards him and Jack these past few years? God, Mother you are infuriating.” She ignored how her mother had degraded her relationship to ‘just marrying’ Hotch, as if she had jumped off the plane from Paris and straight into his arms. 

“If he hadn’t done that I would be dead right now. For real. What about that don’t you understand.” The tears that had been threatening to fall since she arrived fell onto her cheeks, and she wiped them away, determined not to completely breakdown. 

“Emily-”

“No. I completely understand that you were hurt by it all, but I won’t let you continue to belittle my relationship with my husband. Even if you are angry at Aaron’s choices you have to understand them, and you certainly cannot continue to take it out on a little boy who doesn’t understand why you don’t like him.” 

“I never said I didn’t like him, Emily.”  
“Well you have a funny way of showing it.” They sat in silence for a couple seconds, the air in the room feeling thick and uncomfortable. “We probably should have had this conversation a long time ago.”

“I think you’re right.” 

“This was hard on all of us, and I will never stop being sorry that you got dragged into it.” Emily said softly, “We need to move forward. I know we’ll never have the typical mother daughter relationship, we never did,” Emily shrugged, “But I would like Jack and this baby to know you and Dad.”

“I would like that too.” Elizabeth said after a moment. “I am sorry Emily, I should have at least spoken to you about the article. I can’t say that I’m sorry it’s allowed us to have this conversation.” She paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her pregnant daughter sat in front of her before she continued. “I’m sorry for how I have treated Agent Hotchner too.” 

“I think he deserves to hear that apology from you himself.”

For a moment, Elizabeth looked affronted as if she was going to start the argument all over again, but she nodded.

“Fair enough. Why don’t you all come over for dinner when he is back in town.” 

“Ok.” Emily smiled slightly, “Although you probably should start calling him Aaron.” 

“One step at a time, Emily. Please.” 

Emily laughed, and for the first time in a long time as far as her mother was concerned she felt hopeful. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t even half way there, but it was something. 

___________________________

“So it went ok?”

“As well as it could have done. We aired some stuff that I think we should have spoken about a long time ago. We’ll never be close, and she’ll never fully be ok with you and me, but it could be the start of something better.” She said into the phone as she settled herself against the pillows on their bed. “She’s invited us to dinner when you get home.” 

“I might just stay in Nevada.” He joked, and she could hear his smile through the phone.

“Aaron.” 

“Just joking. I’m glad you were able to have that conversation with her.”

“Me too.” She glanced to the side of the bed where he would usually be lying next to her. “I wish you were here.” 

“Me too, sweetheart. It will hopefully only be another couple of days at most. How is the baby doing?” 

“Good, restless like usual at this time of day.” She rubbed her belly with her spare hand. “Kicked up a storm whilst I was yelling at Grandma earlier.” 

“I’ve never been prouder.” 

Emily heard some commotion on the other end, and Morgan call for Hotch’s attention.

“You need to go.” She whispered, mournfully.

“I’m sorry, Em.”

“Don’t be. It’s the job. I get it.” 

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Please stay safe.” 

“Always.” 

Emily sighed as they hung up, putting her cell phone on the bedside table before running her hands over her face in exhaustion. It had been a long day, and she was tired - physically and emotionally. 

“Emily?” She turned to the small voice coming from her bedroom door. Jack somehow always looked younger at night, and tonight was no different as he stood in the doorway in his pyjamas with his favourite toy lion hanging from his hands. 

“Are you ok, Jack? You should be sleeping.” She asked concerned, knowing it was well past 10pm. 

“I had a bad dream. About George and Mommy.” He sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his hand. 

“Oh, baby come here.” She said putting her arms out for him. He was on the bed in what felt like seconds and in her arms. “You’re ok. George can’t hurt you anymore, remember? Daddy made sure of it.” She pressed a kiss into the top of his head and rocked him slightly. “Want to sleep here tonight?”

“Dad said I’m a big boy now and big boys sleep in their own bed.” His voice was sleepy, but determined. Emily knew he wanted to stay no matter what he said, so she tried a different tactic. 

“Well,” She started pulling away from him slightly and pulling the bed covers back so he could climb in, “I feel a bit sad, and don’t really want to sleep by myself tonight. So I could really do with some company.”

Jack seemed to consider this for a second before climbing under the covers with her and settling on Hotch’s side of the bed. Emily smiled, switching off the light and settling down herself onto her pregnancy pillow. She reached her hand over to him and ran it through his hair.

“Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be right here.” She whispered.

“Love you, Momma.” Jack muttered, already mostly asleep. Emily’s heart swelled. Jack so rarely called her anything along the lines of mom, and it was usually unconsciously. She was beyond ok with it, not ever wanting to take anything from his relationship with Haley, but she loved it when it happened. 

“Love you too, Jack. More than you’ll ever know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :)


	3. Dinner with the Prentiss's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments -they mean so much! 
> 
> This chapter is set about 2 weeks after the last one.
> 
> **Trigger Warning - brief mentions of miscarriage and abortion at the end of this chapter relating to Emily's past**
> 
> Enjoy!

“This was a bad idea. I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep my cool if she says something derogatory to you. Or Jack. He’s not used to my parents, I couldn’t bare it if she upset him.” 

Emily was spiralling and she knew it. It was the first official day of her maternity leave, and it also happened to be the night her family of three was going to her parents house for the dinner she had agreed to a couple weeks before. That meant she had spent all day thinking about all the different scenarios that this evening could bring, and Hotch had been able to sense her tension the moment he arrived home from the office a couple hours prior. 

“Jack has met them before.” He reasoned, as he knelt on the floor in front of the couch she was sat on tying her shoes up for her, since she could no longer reach her own feet well enough to put on the shoes she had chosen for the evening. 

“Only at bigger parties, never just the five of us.” She paused, having just registered what she had said. “Oh God it has never just been the five of us. That’s so messed up.” She leant back into the couch cushioned and closed her eyes. 

“It will be fine.” He calmly replied, hoping he could bring her down a couple of levels before Jack was ready. He placed a hand her knee to signal that he does done with the shoes and she opened her eyes to look at him. The amount of concern twirling round in her dark eyes made him realise he had not succeeded. 

He sighed and stood up, offering his hands to her to help her up. She could still just about get up off of the couch herself but it was easier for everyone involved if she took the help, which she did on this occasion. 

“I think we should cancel. Say I’ve gone into labour or something.” She said when they were both stood up. 

“Are you seriously suggesting that you are going to fake going into labour to get out of dinner with your parents?  


“The look on your face makes me think you want me to say no.” 

“Emily.”

“Ok look, I know I’m being irrational. But right now your child,” She said, pressing her hand into the top of her bump, “currently has their feet wedged under my ribs making it harder to breathe and therefore sleep. And if you are around Elizabeth Prentiss for an evening you need your wits about you, and I am not at the top of my game right now.” 

That, Aaron Hotchner knew, was an understatement. He loved his wife dearly, but knew that she was really struggling in this late stage of her pregnancy. She was now 38 weeks along and she was exhausted. She was sleeping for around 2 hours at a time, partially due to the baby’s current position and partially due to the fact she was needing to get up to use the restroom very frequently. Her hormones were out of control and her mood was all over the place, and for a reason he couldn’t quite understand she was really beating herself up over it all. 

“I’m ready!” The boy in question said from behind them, before Hotch could address the situation any further, and they both turned to look at him. He was stood in his smart black pants, with a white shirt tucked into it and a blue tie. He had brushed his hair, something that Emily struggled to get him to do on the best of days, and was beaming at his parents.

“You look so cute, Jack!” Emily exclaimed.

“I’m a boy, boys aren’t cute.” He replied with a slight grimace on his face approaching them. 

“Well I’m allowed to think you’re cute.” Emily said, running her hand over his hair. He looked so grown up, and it was making her feel emotional. “How come you’re all dressed up anyway, we’re only going to my parents house?”  
Jack was certainly matching his father’s idea of ‘casual’, with the older Hotchner himself still in his suit from work. Emily was wearing a simple dark red maternity dress, and frankly didn’t have the energy to do anything more dressed up than that. 

“Their house is so fancy, and I know your Mom is kind of mean to you sometimes so I didn’t want to be something she could be mean about. Dad taught me how to do my tie all by myself!” He answered honestly. 

That statement in itself brought some tears to Emily’s eyes. Jack was such a kind little boy, and she loved him so much. She also hated that he was aware of her mothers hostility, and chastised herself for not protecting him from it more.

“See,” She replied with a slight quiver to her voice, “you’re cute.” 

“Dad, she’s crying again.” Jack said looking to his father, who had watched the whole exchange, with concern in his voice.

“Emily is just a bit emotional today, buddy. Why don’t you get your shoes on and we’ll meet you at the front door.” Hotch explained as he reached down and straightened his sons tie. Jack looked warily up to Emily, who was dabbing her eyes, before looking back at his father and nodding. He walked off to the front of the house in search of his shoes. 

“I am a crazy person.” Emily said when Jack was out of earshot. “I can’t even look at Jack all dressed up without being an emotional mess.” She frustratingly wiped the few remaining tears away.

“I think you’re being harsh on yourself, Em.” He said, putting his arms around her from behind and pulling her back into his chest. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head in an attempt to provide some comfort.

“I hate being this emotional, it’s just not me. As soon as this baby is out I’ll go back to being the woman you married I promise.” She laid her hands over his on her stomach and linked her fingers through his.

He knew from experience back when Haley had Jack that would not be the case. The rush of hormones post birth, the emotions of being a new mother and the lack of sleep would certainly mean Emily wouldn’t be back to what she considered normal for some time. He also knew that it was within his best interest to not point that out to her. 

“You are the woman I married.” He replied simply, hoping it would placate her. 

“Barely.” She grumbled. 

“We’re going to have to set some ground rules about how you can’t bad mouth the woman I love like this.” He said jokingly, leaning down to kiss the juncture between her neck and shoulder, smiling when he felt her hum in response.

“I’m on maternity leave so you can’t tell me what to do anymore, Hotch.” She said teasingly emphasising the use of his workplace nickname, and he knew he had managed to cheer her up a little. 

“Let’s go, I’m hungry.” Jack called from the front door, causing the two adults to laugh and pull away from each other. 

“This is going to suck.” Emily said to her husband although she smiled when he leant down and pressed a kiss to her frown.

____________________________

For the most part, the start of the evening was as pleasant as possible. Jonathan Prentiss seemed to really get on with Jack and spent much of the pre-dinner time they had letting the young boy talk his ear off about anything and everything. It really warmed Emily’s heart to see her dad get on with the boy she loved and treated as her own.

Elizabeth was being mostly well behaved, not as engaged with Jack as Jonathan was but enough to satisfy Emily that her mother wasn’t going to be outright rude to the boy. 

At dinner they were sat with Jonathan at the head of the table with Emily to his right and Elizabeth to his left. Hotch was sat next to his wife, and Jack was next to Elizabeth, the boy occasionally throwing nervous looks to his father opposite him. 

“You look so well, Emily.” Jonathan said happily, as the plates from their starters were cleared around them.

“Thanks, Dad,” She chuckled, “I wish I felt it.” She said running her hand over her bump. 

“At least there isn’t too long to go now.” He offered, smiling at his daughter.

“Two weeks to go until my due date,” She smiled, turning to smile directly at Hotch for a second. 

“How are you feeling about being a big brother so soon, Jack?” Jonathan asked.

“I’m excited! Dad and Emily said I can help with loads of stuff.” He answered excitedly. Emily picked up on the look on her mothers face when Jack replied to her with her given name, as opposed to something along the lines of ‘mom’, but she chose to ignore it. 

“It’s about time there was another Prentiss around.”Jonathan said kindly, raising his glass to the occasion. 

“Actually, Dad the baby will be a Hotchner.” Emily replied with a small smile on her face, hoping her dad wasn’t taking a leaf out of her mother’s book.

“What?” Elizabeth interjected, joining in on the conversation for the first time. 

“Well, yeah. That’s what all our last names are,” Emily replied, using her hands to gesture to herself, Jack and Hotch, “why wouldn’t the baby’s be the same?” She saw her father nod at that reasoning, and was glad he was at least on side. 

“Your name isn’t Hotchner.” Elizabeth responded indignantly. 

“Emily legally changed her name when we got married.” Hotch intervened, “She kept Prentiss for work because that’s how she built her career.”

The other reason they had decided she would stay Agent Pretniss at work was so no UNSUBs would catch on to the fact they were married and be able to use that against them, but he wasn’t about to explain that in front of his 9 year old son. 

“You never told us that. I never marked you for a traditionalist, Emily.” Elizabeth quipped, taking a sip of her wine and not even acknowledging that Hotch had spoken. Her feelings about her daughters name change were clear on her face, but mercifully the older woman was smart enough to not say anything with Jack in the room.

“I’m not on most things. This felt important.” She answered simply. 

“Just think of the opportunities our name would give your child.” Elizabeth said trying a different tactic, and pointedly ignoring her husbands facial expression begging her to drop it. “Especially here in DC. You’d get them into any school you wanted.” 

“Actually, I was thinking about all of the difficulties I had growing up trying to live up to the name.” Emily bit out, the first sign of her properly losing her cool that evening, but then she looked at Jack and remembered why she was so desperately trying to salvage some kind of relationship with her mother. “I don’t want that for my child, and I wanted my children to have the same last name. It’s not that complicated.” She continued more calmly and she smiled softly at her father when he shot her an apologetic look. 

“I just think you haven’t thought this through.”

“I have and I’m done talking about it.” She took a sip of her drink and set the glass down on the table, before looking at Jack who was sat opposite her, “Jack, what was that project at school you were telling me about earlier?” 

Jack looked slightly wide eyed at Emily for a moment slightly unsure what he had just witnessed, before looking to his father who nodded slightly. Shrugging his shoulders Jack launched into an explanation on the science fair that was coming up. 

As he spoke animatedly, Hotch gently reached for Emily’s hand under the table which she grasped tightly.  
It was going to be a long evening. 

____________________________

After dessert Jack was doing a poor job of hiding how bored he was, so Jonathan asked if the young boy wanted to go see the his train set in his office. Jack looked to Emily and Hotch for permission, which they gladly gave, and the little boy ran off after the older man leaving Elizabeth alone with their daughter and son in law. 

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do for a trust fund?” Elizabeth asked, seemingly out of nowhere once they had been sat in slightly awkward silence for a few minutes. 

“No, we won’t be doing one.”

Emily had her own trust fund which had become available on her 21st birthday, and there was a lot of money in there. When she had first told Hotch how much he had to sit down. As a young woman who had been very angry at the world and her parents she had spent it pretty recklessly for a couple years, before deciding that she didn’t want to be reliant on them. For a long time she only spent money she earned, although when she settled back in DC to join the BAU she had used the trust fund to get her apartment there. 

Between that money, which she now considered theirs no matter how uncomfortable Hotch still was with the notion, and both their wages they lived very comfortably and always would. She didn’t want the life she had for her baby or for Jack. 

“I can set you up with our lawyer to get one set up.”

“I said no, Mother.”

“Well what about education? We have some strong links with some very prestigious pre-schools in the area where you live.” Elizabeth offered, her voice far from kind. 

“We’ll likely send the baby to the same pre-school Jack went to.” Emily replied, attempting to leave no room for argument 

“Emily this is your child’s education. You can’t mess around with it, you are determining their future.”

“Well considering the baby hasn’t been born yet I think we have time to work it out.” Hotch added hoping his voice sounded reasonable despite his own annoyance he could feel building against his mother in law. 

“Do you have anything prepared? I know you seem to be of the opinion that love is enough to raise a child on, but you need a hell of a lot more than that.” 

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Emily said tightly, standing up from her chair and needing to put physical distance between herself and her mother even for only a couple minutes, “I’ll be back in a second.” As she left she briefly pressed her hand on Hotch’s shoulder before walking away. 

They sat in stifling silence for the first few minutes of Emily’s absence and Hotch spent the entire time weighing up whether he should say something to the woman sat at the table with him. He hated how she treated Emily, but he had promised a long time ago to let her fight her own battles with her mother. In the end, his desire to protect his wife won out. 

“You need to lay off of her.” He said evenly, knowing he was in Agent Hotchner mode but not particularly caring. 

“Excuse me?”

“You need to lay off of her,” He repeated, his voice stern. “You are not stupid, Elizabeth so you know what impact your words and your behaviour have on her. You enjoy having that control and it has got to stop.”

“She is my daughter.” Elizabeth said with a certain amount of shock on her face, it was obvious no one spoke this way to her often. 

“And she is my wife.” He said firmly, “There are only so many times I can convince her to give you another chance and I am done being generous with my opinions of you.” 

“You can’t speak to me like that.”

“I have kept out of it for a long time, probably too long, because she asked me to but I’m not doing it anymore. You do not get to belittle her ability to be a mother when you have done so little to provide a good example.” 

“You are treading on thin ice, Agent Hotchner.” She replied indignantly. 

“For the love of God, Mother. Call him Aaron.” Emily’s exasperated voice surprised them both from the entrance to the dining room. “How many times do I have to say that?” She muttered, mostly to herself, as she gently lowered herself back into the chair next to Hotch. She laid her hand over his on the table and interlocked their fingers.

“He’s right mother.” Emily continued, indicating just how much of the conversation she had overheard. “This stalemate we always find ourself in is getting old. And I will not subject my children to it if it continues.”

“I’m trying my best, Emily.”

“Well try harder. Please.” Emily’s voice was hard, but the pleading tone wasn’t lost on anyone. 

Elizabeth’s only response was to nod, and for Emily that was enough for now. 

____________________________

“I am 43 years old and nearly full term, and she’s saying all these awful, condescending things.” Emily spoke into the darkness of their bedroom. They had stayed for a little while after the conversation in the dining room, but eventually Emily said she was tired and wanted to go home.

They parted on the terms with her parents that they would be in touch with updates about the baby, both sides seemingly understanding that this wasn’t an evening that bared repeating too soon. 

Jack had noticed the uncomfortable vibe of the evening, and had hugged Emily even longer than he usually did before he headed to bed. 

“It makes me wonder how bad she would have been if I’d gone to her when I was 15.” She whispered. 

Emily had told him about her pregnancy and subsequent abortion in Italy when she suspected she was pregnant the first time around earlier in their relationship. She had been so worried what he would think of her, but as always he had been supportive. That unyielding support and faith he had in her continued when she had later gone one to miscarry and blame herself and her past actions on what happened. 

“Emily, your mother is a difficult woman and she always has been. Somewhere under all of it she does love you. She goes about it in completely the wrong way, but it is out of love.” He said gently, reaching out to stroke his hand over her hair. 

She started to cry in earnest. He hadn’t seen her this upset in a long time and he was worried. Hotch knew that Emily was not as emotionally closed off as she would have people think. On some level he had always known this and he had been able to see the underlying emotions brewing in her eyes even when the rest of her face looked neutral. In the wake of Doyle, and when they got together he had become even more privy to it. She generally held very little back from him, and he considered it a privilege that she allowed him to see her at what she truly considered to be her worst. 

Since she got pregnant those underlying emotions had been a little closer to the surface and he knew it had been an adjustment for other people, especially some of their teammates, to see the usually quite level headed Emily lose her cool over small things. Normally her hormone induced tears were a few that escaped her eyes, and she usually wiped them away before anyone else noticed. 

This, however, was full blown sobs and for a moment Hotch really didn’t know what to do. He wished he could completely gather her up in his arms and hold her until she stopped crying, but her swollen stomach made that really difficult. He settled on curling himself around her, uncomfortably positioning himself around her bump and beloved pregnancy pillow. He rested his forehead against hers and brought his hand to her cheek.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He asked gently, trying to calm her down. The position of the baby was making her breathing a bit trickier anyway, let alone when she was crying like this.

“I’m just so tired Aaron. I’m tired of my mother, of feeling so out of control. I’m even tired of being pregnant.” She sobbed out, sounding ashamed of her last statement. “I feel ungrateful that I’m feeling this way. This is something I always knew I wanted, and now that it’s here-” She stopped, trying to gather herself.

“Emily, you are tired, in a lot of discomfort and you are emotionally exhausted. You’re allowed to want this part of the journey to be over.” He comforted, still cupping her cheek in his hand, rubbing tears away with his thumb. “And you have spent so much of your pregnancy grateful and happy, you lasted longer than most before starting to admit it is difficult.” 

“I just want the baby to be here with us.” She hiccuped. “I want to know if we have a son or daughter and I want to hold them."

“I know, sweetheart. Me too.” He kissed her forehead. He moved his hand from her cheek and took to rubbing up and down her back. Eventually, she started to calm down her sobs turned into sniffles. 

“Maybe we don’t see my mother again until after baby is here?” She whispered, her voice ragged from the crying but with an edge of humour to it. He laughed at that and pulled away from her a bit to rest his forehead against hers.  
Even with her eyes red and swollen from the crying, and the tear stains all over her cheeks she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 

“Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just couldn't help myself with Hotch getting all protective!!
> 
> In the next chapter the baby will make their appearance...
> 
> Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Until next time.
> 
> SequinSmile x


	4. I Love You, Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Time for baby Hotchner to make their appearance in this world. 
> 
> FYI: some mild description of childbirth - nothing graphic though! 
> 
> This is just....really, really fluffy.

Emily knew she was stubborn. She had been told that her entire life - first by her parents, then her teachers and just about every boss she had ever had. Her husband particularly enjoyed lecturing her about her stubbornness, but she found it slightly harder to take from him since he was just as, if not more, stubborn than she was. 

It was this outright determination that helped her let herself believe that she wasn’t in labour. She had started feeling the contractions just after she had served Jack dinner and, as she would defend herself later, at first she had genuinely thought they were more Braxton Hicks. But then they didn’t stop and started getting more intense and ever so slightly closer together.

She was a week overdue and, overall, at the stage of pregnancy where she was miserable. She had spent the last month wanting her baby out as soon as possible but now it was happening she just needed her child to stay exactly where he or she was for several more hours. Hotch had gone out of town on a case, a case that he shouldn’t have been on in the first place, and whilst he was on his way back to DC she didn’t want to risk her husband missing the birth of their baby.

So Emily was definitely, 100% not in labour.

“Emily?” Jack’s voice broke through her thoughts, and she turned her head to see him stood at the bottom of the stairs in his pyjamas. “Are you ok? You’ve been making weird faces all evening.”

She groaned internally, cursing herself for not covering her discomfort as well as she thought she had. She had put a movie on for him, a treat for a school night, and hoped it would suitably distract him. Apparently he was as observant as they were. He looked so much like his father when he was concerned that it melted her heart.

“I’m fine, baby. I promise.” She replied, hoping she sounded sincere. “Come give me a hug and then it’s time for bed.” 

Jack bounded over to where she was sat on the couch and crawled next to her before hugging her from the side. She leant down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 

“When is the baby going to be here?” He asked placing a hand on her stomach.

“Soon, Jack.” She replied, ignoring the voice in the back of her head saying it would be very soon. That answer seemed to placate him and they sat for a couple minutes just enjoying each other’s company. “You have school in the morning, buddy. So off to bed with you.” Emily squeezed him as she said it. 

“Love you, Emily.” Jack said as he pulled away and moved off the couch.

“Love you too.” Emily responded, although he was already half way up the stairs before she had spoken. 

Almost as soon as she heard Jack’s bedroom door shut behind him she felt an incredibly sharp pain seize her abdomen. 

“Oh God.” She moaned out loud, she squeezed her eyes shut and rested both of her hands on her stomach which was rock hard . She let out a breath as the pain passed, and she dropped her head to the back of the couch. “Crap.” She whispered to herself.

She was definitely, 100% in labour. 

Emily waited until the next contraction to see if she could time them, but the pain was too much for her to time it herself. She panicked for a moment, thinking of her husband who was currently on a jet and not next to her, but then she pulled herself together. He’d called her when he was on the runway and that was almost 5 hours ago so he should land soon. He usually dropped her a text when he was driving back to their house and that was, at worst, a 45 minute drive.

She could do this by herself until he arrived.Two contractions later, she suddenly realised someone would have to be with Jack whilst her and Hotch were at the hospital.

“Damn baby brain.” She murmured to herself. The plan had always been for Jessica to take Jack when she was in labour. Emily decided to give Jessica a call, she could stay at the house for the night and take Jack to school in the morning. 

Emily cursed to herself again when she remembered her cell phone was on the kitchen counter. She blew out a breath and got off of the couch, which was no easy task these days, and made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed her phone and leant onto the counter, taking some of her weight off of her feet. She selected Jessica from her contacts and pressed dial

“Jess, Hi. How are you?” She asked, attempting to sound nonchalant when the other woman answered.

“Emily! I’m ok,” Jesica’s voice came through the phone, sounding a mixture of confusion and concern. “Are you ok? It’s gone 9pm.”

“I’m ok. I’m fairly sure I’m in labour though, so I wondered if you wouldn’t mind coming over to stay with Jack?” She was still going for nonchalance, but she wasn’t even fooling herself anymore. 

“Oh my God! Is Aaron there?” Jessica exclaimed. Emily heard shuffling on the other end of the phone and she assumed this meant that the other woman was getting ready to head over.

“No. He’s been away on a case. He’s on the way home though, should be landing back in DC in the next 10 minutes- oh God.” Emily’s sentence was finished abruptly by a contraction. She used the hand that wasn’t holding the phone to her ear to grab the kitchen counter tightly. 

“Was that a contraction?” 

“Yes.” Emily gritted out through her teeth, blowing out a breath as the wave of pain came to an end.

“I’m on my way, should be with you in 15 minutes.” Jessica replied, and Emily heard what sounded like a car door shutting on the other side of the line.

“Thanks, you have a key. Let yourself in.” She hung up the phone and put it on the counter. Emily took a couple of deep breaths and pressed her hands into her stomach. “You are staying right where you are until your dad is home.” 

By the time she heard Jessica’s key in the door she was sat on her exercise ball in the living room bouncing slightly and coming off of another contraction. The living room was within direct eyesight of the front door, so the other woman spotted her immediately. 

“How are you feeling?” Jessica asked softly, sitting on the armchair that was next to the exercise ball Emily was perched on. 

“Like a person is trying to escape my body very slowly.” Emily joked. “I’m so sorry for calling so late.”

“It’s fine, no need to apologise at all. Have you heard from Aaron again?” Jessica smiled at Emily, clearly attempting to be reassuring. 

“Yeah they’ve landed, he’s coming home so will probably be 30 minutes. 45 at most.” 

“Did you tell him you’re in labour?”

“No I did not,” Emily took in the incredulous look on the other woman’s face, “He’d break every speeding restriction in DC or get in an accident. The last thing I need is my husband getting arrested or end up in the hospital bed next to me whilst I give birth.”

“Fair enough.” Jessica answered. “Did you have any more contractions after we spoke on the phone?” 

“Two, they are about 7 minutes apart.” 

“Ok that’s good. Has your water broken?” Jessica asked gently, helping Emily readjust herself slightly on the ball as she shifted.

“Not yet.” Emily answered. She felt another contraction start to build, “I’m having another one.” 

“Take my hand,” Jessica soothed, offering her hand to Emily which was gladly accepted. “Just breathe through it and squeeze me if you need to. I can take it.” 

Emily did as she was told, and did her best to breathe whilst she held Jessica’s hand so tight she was sure it had to hurt. She was aware of the other woman also rubbing her back and whisper encouraging nonsense to her. 

“You’re good at this.” Emily commented as she felt the pain dissipate. 

“I’ve done it before.” Jessica answered softly, a wistful smile fleeting across her face. 

“Crap, I’m so sorry Jess. I should have called someone else this must be weird for you.” Emily said, berating herself for not thinking properly. Hotch had told her once that Jessica had been there when Jack was born and had coached Haley through most of her labour when he was stuck in the office. She felt stupid for not even considering it. 

“No, it isn’t.” Jessica replied gently but firmly, the tears in Emily’s eyes indicating that she wasn’t as put together as she usually was. “Haley would have been happy for you and Aaron. All she ever wanted was for Jack to be part of a family and to be loved, and he is.” She seemed to consider what she said next, but said it anyway. “You’re good for them, both Jack and Aaron.” 

“Thank you. That means a lot.” 

“Haley actually mentioned you to me once. Did I ever tell you that?” Jessica commented, trying to turn the conversation to a slightly happier one whilst rubbing Emily’s back in an attempt to relieve some of the tension there. 

“No, you didn’t.”

“When you first joined the team, you all went on a night out for the Super Bowl. I babysat Jack. you guys had to leave on a case and she came round to mine. She said you were unbelievably pretty, and she couldn’t even hate you for it because you were so nice.” Jessica chuckled, remembering the look of indignation on her sisters face at the time. 

“I remember that night. It feels like a lifetime ago.” Emily said, smiling herself at the memory. A time before Foyet, Doyle or any of the traumas in between. Back when Hotch was just her married boss and she was still finding her feet in the team.

“I guess for all intents and purposes - it was.”  
__________________

Hotch knew something was up the moment he pulled into the driveway of his house and saw Jessica’s car parked outside. Whilst Emily and Jessica got on, they rarely spent social time together and since his wife was at home Jack had spent slightly less time with his aunt lately.

He entered his house, and saw his wife sat on the exercise ball that had been in their living room for the past several months, and his ex-sister in law sat on the armchair to her side. Both women looked at him where he was stood in the doorway, and he started to piece everything together in his head.

Emily was wearing her favourite maternity leggings and his Harvard Law t-shirt, that she had completely stretched out with her stomach but he wasn’t about to mention that, her hair was thrown up into a ponytail, and her facial expression was a little strained although she was obviously trying to cover that up. Jessica was still wearing her coat, indicating she hadn’t even had a chance to settle in when she arrived, and had a slightly concerned look on her face. 

“Emily?” He asked, his voice laced with concern as he approached them. 

“So, don’t freak out, but I am in labour.” She said evenly. 

“What? Why didn’t you tell me? We spoke on the phone 40 minutes ago.” He asked as he stood in front of the two women. 

“I didn’t want you to get arrested for breaking every traffic law in the state,” Emily chastised, but before she could go any further she felt another contraction coming. “Oh God, here comes another one.” 

Hotch was by her side faster than she thought he could move, crouching on the floor in front of her and she grabbed his hand in place of Jessica’s.

“They are getting closer together,” Jessica told Hotch, “About 6 minutes between them now.” 

“Thanks, Jess. The hospital bag is in our bedroom, would you mind going to grab it for us?” He asked, his hand still clasped in his wife’s iron grip. 

“Of course.” Jessica quickly got up from the armchair and headed up the stairs, careful to be as quiet as possible so she didn’t wake up Jack.

Hotch felt Emily’s grip on his hand lessen as the contraction came to an end. She opened her eyes and stared directly into her husbands eyes.

“Hi.” She whispered.

“Hi.” He replied, smiling at her as he leant forward to kiss her gently, as he pulled away he continued to speak, “You really should have told me.” 

“I stand by my reasoning. Now, are you going to argue with your wife who is in active labour, or are you going to get her to the car before the next contraction hits.” She quipped, smiling at him as he scowled at her slightly. 

Hotch stood up and moved to her side, wrapping one arm around her and helping guide her upwards. When they were both stood she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Let’s go have a baby.” She whispered into the lapel of his coat. He chuckled in response and held her tighter to him. He looked over her shoulder and saw Jessica returning with the bag, the other woman smiling at the couple in front of her.

“Let’s go, sweetheart.”

__________________

An hour later, once Emily was settled into her hospital bed and had been examined by her doctor, Hotch quickly stepped out of the room to make a call to let his superiors know his two weeks leave would start immediately. His tone left no room for argument, which bearing in mind he had just come back from a case they shouldn’t have sent him on since had requested months ago to stay close to home at this stage of Emily’s pregnancy, he assumed there would be no argument. If the UNSUB had taken even a few more hours to crack he would have missed this. 

Rossi was going to take his place as agent in charge whilst he was off, so he also send him a message to let him know. As he walked back into the room he watched his wife try and get comfortable in the hospital bed.

“Promise me that after this we avoid hospitals for at least 6 months.” She joked as he sat back in the chair next to her bed. 

Both of them had their fair share of hospital visits over the years, the most recent being when his scar tissue from Foyet’s attack had left him with internal bleeding. Emily didn’t think she’d ever get that the image of him hitting the floor in the briefing room out of her head.

“Hey, this is a good reason to be in the hospital.” He assured her, running his hand over her hair. 

“I know.” She smiled at him, and if she was going to say anything else it was interrupted by another contraction. 

She had been insistent from the beginning that she didn’t want painkillers or an epidural during labour. He had been less sure, hating to see his wife in pain, but she had not so delicately told him that was his problem, not hers. It had been one of the few things they had argued about regarding her pregnancy. Ultimately, he knew it was her choice and that Emily was hard to get painkillers into for any reason, even a headache, so it was a losing battle. It didn’t mean he had to like it though.

“Don’t even think about saying it.” Emily said as the contraction left her. 

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He said gently, holding up the hand that wasn’t being squeezed by hers in his defence. 

“Good.” She replied, smiling at him. “I can’t believe I’m already 5cms dilated.” She commented.

“I know, just how long were you having contractions before you called Jess?” 

“Around 3 hours,” She said sheepishly, wincing slightly when his eyebrows shot up his forehead. 

“Emily!” 

“In my defence, I wasn’t sure it was labour at first. And I didn’t want to do this without you.” She added the last part, hoping it would soften it up a bit. The look he gave her told her she’d achieved that. 

__________________

Six, very long, hours later Emily was still in labour. The last checkup from the doctor 30 minutes prior put her at 8cms dilated and she was exhausted. 

Hotch had long since abandoned his suit jacket and tie over the back of the couch in the room they were in. He’d rolled up his shirt sleeves and had alternated between sitting in the chair he was currently in, or laying on the bed with her to rub her back - whatever she had needed more at the time. 

“This officially sucks,” She groaned as a contraction passed through her. They were lasting a minute a piece now with only 3 minutes between them. “It’s your turn, I can’t do this anymore.” 

“Em, sweetheart you can do this. You are doing it.” He soothed, pulling her hand that was in his to his lips for a kiss. 

“I just want the baby out of me, Aaron.” She cried, her eyes welling with tears. 

“I know,” He said, standing from his seat and smoothing placing his hand on her forehead. She had always complained about how cold his hands would get in air-conditioned rooms like the one they were in, but she seemed to welcome the coolness at this particular moment in time. “The baby will be here soon.”

She whimpered again, the machine she was attached to indicating another contraction was building. He guided her through it, as he had been all evening, and kissed her hand again when he could tell it was coming to the end.

“Aaron, I feel like I need to push.” She grit out through her teeth, “I really need to push.” 

He pressed the midwife call button behind her bed and kept a grip on her hand. 

“Just hold on until someone gets here sweetheart.”

A midwife walked into the room, looking far too casual for the situation than either Hotch or Emily appreciated. There had been a shift change since she had last been examined so they hadn’t seen this woman before.

“She says she needs to push.” Hotch explained. The midwife, whose name badge said her name was Nancy, nodded and positioned herself at the end of Emily’s bed. 

“I just need to examine you, if that is ok, Mrs Hotchner?” Nancy said kindly.

“Considering where you are about to put your hand, I think it’s ok you call me Emily.” She attempted to joke, opening her legs so Nancy could do what she needed to. Emily winced as she felt Nancy do the exam.

“Well, Emily, it looks like we are ready to go here. You’re at 10cms.” 

“It’s time?” Emily asked, looking at Hotch who was smiling down at her.

“Absolutely, your baby will be here before you know it.” Nancy confirmed. 

Emily felt like that was easy for someone who wasn’t about to push a person out of their body to say.

__________________

She had been pushing for just over an hour when the midwives, Nancy and another woman called Hannah, in the room started to really start acting like something was about to happen. Nancy had just placed a towel on her chest and she was being told she was only a couple of pushes away from meeting her baby. She felt Hotch kiss her forehead and then the hand he held tightly between his own. 

She pushed as directed by Hannah, and three pushes later she felt her child leave her body and almost immediately heard the baby cry.

“It’s a girl.” Hannah declared as she held up the baby and placed her on Emily’s chest.

“It’s a girl?” Emily asked, voice full of wonder as she moved her shaking hands to hold the still crying baby to her chest. She took in the sight of her daughter, still covered in gunk, and thought she might just be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She had a shock of dark hair on her head, and her face was scrunched up as she protested the trauma of being born. “Aaron, we have a girl.” Emily tore her eyes from her daughter to her husband, who had the same look of awe on his face she was sure was reflected in hers. 

“I love you so much.” He said to Emily, before pressing a quick kiss to her mouth and resting a hand over hers on their little girls back. When he pulled away from his wife he rested his temple against the side of her head as they both looked at their daughter for a couple more seconds.

“Do you want to cut the chord, Dad?” Nancy asked, handing him a pair of scissors as he nodded the affirmative. He cut it and moved back towards his wife, seemingly not wanting to be apart from her and the newest member of their family for a second. 

“I need to take her for her checks I’m afraid, it will only be a few minutes.” Nancy said, putting her hands out to signal she was going to remove the baby from Emily, who briefly tightened her hold before relinquishing the baby.

“Aaron go with her.” Emily ordered. She knew logically her daughter wasn’t even leaving the room, but was being checked over only a few steps away from her bed, but she didn’t want her to be alone.

“Em-”

“Go on, Dad.” Nancy said, “Emily and I have some business to deal with here with the placenta.” 

Hotch took another look at his wife and nodded slightly, following over to where their little girl had been placed in a plastic cot as she was being checked over. 

“Hi, sweetheart.” He whispered, putting his finger into her tiny hand. She grasped it and opened her eyes, revealing the dark eyes that belonged to his wife. “You’re so beautiful.” 

He stood for a few minutes as she had all of her measurements taken and the nurses cleaned her up and put a diaper on her and swaddled her in a blanket before handing her back over.

“Here you go, Dad.” Nancy smiled as he took the baby into his arms. “She’s 7lbs 5oz and 22 inches long. She’s going to be a tall lanky thing like the pair of you.” 

Hotch stood there staring at the tiny baby in his arms for a moment, seemingly lost in his own little world.

“Aaron, bring me my baby.” Emily’s voice broke him out of his revere and he walked back over to the bed. He sat on the edge of her bed and allowed her to lean against him as she took in the sight of her baby. “She’s beautiful.” She whispered, tracing her finger over her daughters cheek. “Is she ok?” She asked, directing her question to Nancy. 

“She’s perfect.” 

“Are you ok?” Hotch asked Emily, when she nodded he looked at Hannah still sat the end of the bed as if he was asking for confirmation. 

“She’ll need a few stitches, the doctor will be in to do those very shortly, but apart from that she’s completely fine.” 

“See, I’m fine.” Emily said teasingly, tearing her eyes from the baby to her husband for a few seconds. “I love you.” She whispered. She wasn’t usually one to be so open in front of people she didn’t know, but she had felt like if she didn’t get it out in that moment she’d explode from all the feelings she had inside of her seeing him hold their minutes old baby girl. 

“I love you too.” 

__________________

When they were finally alone Emily had shifted over very gingerly in her bed so Hotch could lie next to her. Her left shoulder overlapped with his right, and she was leaning back into him an his arms were wrapped around her gently. She was staring intently at the baby in her arms and knew he was doing the same over her shoulder. 

“She has my nose I think, poor thing.” Emily commented softly, not wanting to wake the sleeping baby.

“I happen to love your nose.” He replied, turning her head to him for a moment so he could prove a point by pressing a kiss to her nose. She scoffed at him, but pressed a quick kiss to his lips before she turned back to her daughter. “She’s all you, Em. Every part of her.” He kissed her shoulder, seemingly unable to stop expressing his love for his wife and what he’d seen her do today.

“Jack will already be at school,” Emily said, eyes flicking to the clock on the wall. “We should call Jessica soon and ask her to bring him here when he’s done later.” 

“I’ll call in a bit.” Hotch replied, not quite wanting to tear himself away from this moment quite yet. Once they started calling people it would break this little spell they were under just the three of them and he wasn’t totally ready for that. “I’ll let the team know too.”

“They’ll be so excited. I think Reid won the pool they had going.” Emily chuckled.

“They had a pool going?” He asked incredulously. 

“Yeah, betting on the usual; - sex of the baby, date of birth, weight, height etc.” She said gently, rocking the baby as she squirmed slightly in her sleep. “They didn’t let me join in because Morgan convinced them all that I secretly knew what we were having and was trying to win the bet.” 

He laughed at that, and imagined how that had played out. He could picture the exact look of indignation on her face as Morgan had insisted that she knew more than she was letting on.

“You were right, you know.” He said, reaching round to run his finger gently down the baby’s face. 

“About what?”

“Keeping it a surprise.” He replied gently. He would keep the look on her face when she was passed their daughter for the first time, and the wonder in her voice, in his mind for the rest of his life. He heard her chuckle to herself at his statement, and they sat for a few seconds in silence still looking at the little girl.

“Do you think the name we picked out works?” Emily asked, turning her head to look at him. 

They had picked out a name for a boy and a name for a girl after months of back and forth. Much like when he and Haley had picked Jack’s name their jobs had left so many names tarnished by the horrible things people could do to each other. They had spoken about potentially giving their child a name after someone they had lost, Emily even asking if they did have a girl if he wanted Haley to be a middle name. He’d been blown away by her suggestion, but ultimately they decided they wanted their child to have their own name. Their own identity. 

“I think it suits her perfectly.” He replied.

“Me too.” She beamed at him, kissing him on the lips as the baby began to fuss in her arms. She turned back to the little girl and shushed her gently. “You’re ok baby.” She watched as the baby opened her dark eyes and blinked in the brightly lit room. 

“Welcome to the world, Wren Emma Hotchner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you have it - a little girl!! 
> 
> I love the scene between Jessica and Emily, and I hope it came across ok. 
> 
> Next chapter everyone will meet little Wren. Going forward with this story there will be slightly bigger time jumps between chapters. 
> 
> I will also, hopefully this coming week, start another series of snippets of their lives set before "Christmas at the Embassy." Unlike this story, that one won't be chronological - but I will let you know in the notes roughly when it is set. One of the first chapters will be the AU version of season 9 episode Route 66 - where Hotch collapses - as alluded to in this chapter.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think :) 
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> SequinSmile xx


	5. Meeting the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> So this ended up being insanely long, but I kept it one chapter so I could get everyone meeting Wren in one go. 
> 
> Again, fluff overload, but I do have some plans for some upcoming light angst/hurt comfort with our favourite couple.

Penelope Garcia couldn’t contain her excitement as she burst into the bullpen in search for her team. She spotted them all in the conference room and walked up the stairs as fast as she could. 

“Is it true? Did the littlest Hotchner make their appearance this morning?” She asked excitedly, spurred on by the fact Hotch was no where to be seen.

“Hotch called about half an hour ago to let me know,” Rossi replied, looking at the technical analyst quizzically, “How do you know?”

“Word travels fast round here.” She moved over to her team, who were all crowded round Rossi’s phone. Garcia gasped as she took in the photo on the screen. A very tired, but happy looking Emily was smiling at the camera whilst holding a small bundle in her arms. Hotch was perched on the bed next to her, arm around his wife and new child, also looking incredibly happy. “Oh look at them. Is it a girl or a boy? Do we have the name?”

“It’s a girl,” Rossi smiled, interrupting Garcia before she could fire off any more questions. “Wren Emma Hotchner, 7lbs 5oz and 22 inches long. Born at 5.25am this morning. ” 

“Who won the betting pool?” Morgan asked, flinching slightly when Garcia smacked him for asking so quickly. “Come on baby girl we’re all thinking it.”

“I was closest,” Reid answered, “I guessed girl, 7lbs 4oz. Although I did think she’d be born yesterday. Most of you guessed boy and had the date of birth some time next week.” 

“When can we go see them?” Garcia enquired, “If we don’t catch a case today we can probably get out early.”

“Hotch said they should get out of the hospital first thing tomorrow, so to go to the house after work. I think they want some time as a family. Have Jack meet her first.” Rossi explained.

“But we are family.” Garcia said disappointed, she turned to JJ, “We all visited you in the hospital when you had Henry.”   
“Yeah but I went into labour on a case, you were all here with me. If I’d have been in Em’s position I’d have asked you to wait too.” JJ answered, “She’ll be exhausted and insanely hormonal right now. It’s best just to agree with whatever the new mom wants.”   
___________________________

Emily had never been so grateful for a shower in her life, and she didn’t even care that a nurse had helped her through pretty much all of it. As she settled back into her hospital bed a nurse appeared at the door with Wren in her arms, who had spent the last hour or so in the nursery.

“Great timing, Emily. This little one is hungry.” The nurse said passing the baby into her mothers eagerly awaiting arms. “Where has that husband of yours got to? I’ve never known hovering like it.”

Emily laughed at that as she lowered the left side of her nightgown down, “I sent him home for a change of clothes. He was still in his suit from work.” She positioned Wren so she could latch on and try and feed, grimacing slightly at the still unfamiliar sensation. 

They had tried feeding a bit earlier and hadn’t been overly successful, which had led to tears from both Wren and Emily. Hotch had tried his best to comfort her, but he hadn’t been much help. 

“How is it feeling?” The nurse asked, watching from where she stood at the side of the bed.

“Weird,” Emily replied, looking up from where her daughter was in her arms, “But it feels different to last time, she actually seems to be getting something.”

“That’s good. Remember what I told you earlier, it’s new to both of you so don’t give yourself a hard time. I’ll leave you two to it, but please press the buzzer if you need anything” 

Emily nodded and looked back down to Wren. She smiled as she took in her daughter, still completely overwhelmed every time looked at her. Emily was sure she was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen., and whilst Hotch said she looked exactly like her Emily could see some of him in her features too. 

“Daddy will be back soon,” She said gently, watching the baby as she continued to eat. “And then you get to meet your brother. Tomorrow you’ll meet all your aunts and uncles. There are so many people in your life who love you already, baby girl.” Wren shifted slightly, her little fist coming to rest on Emily’s breast near the scar where Doyle’s brand used to be. Before she could think about that for too long she heard her husbands deadpan voice from the door.

“Morgan has completely ruined the term ‘baby girl’ for me.”   
_____________________________

“Careful of her head, buddy.” Emily said to Jack as cupped the back of Wren’s head in her hand, the baby lying in her older brothers arms. Jack was sat in the bed next to Emily, starting at his baby sister in awe.

“She’s so small.” He said, wonder in his voice as he turned to his dad.

“You were actually slightly smaller when you were born.” Hotch explained, smiling when his son looked back at him with disbelief in his eyes.

“Can I take her in for show and tell?” Jack turned to look up at Emily who he was leaning against. 

Emily let out a small laugh, which was echoed by both Hotch and Jessica, who was sat on a chair in the corner of the room. “Maybe when she’s slightly bigger, Jack.”

Jessica and Jack had arrived about an hour before, and Jack was already obsessed with his sister, although Emily did wonder how long that would last once she kept them all awake at night. 

“Why don’t we let Aunt Jessie hold her for a bit before you take her home?” Emily suggested gently, moving to take Wren from Jack’s arms as she noticed his attention start to wane slightly. 

Jessica looked up from where she was sat, “Are you sure, Emily? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Don’t be silly, you’re family.” Emily chastised, smiling when Jessica stood to move towards the hospital bed, Emily handed the baby over and leant back, immediately taking Jack into her arms for a hug which he gladly accepted. 

When it was time for them to leave Jack protested leaving his parents and sister behind, but was placated when they explained to him they would be home by the time he got out of school the following day.

____________________________

The next day Emily was in the nursery, which was placed directly next to their bedroom, when the doorbell rang and she heard Hotch answer it and welcome whoever it was indoors. She had just finished changing Wren when she heard her mothers voice travel throughout the house.

“This is a lovely home, Agent Hotchner.” 

Emily rolled her eyes at the use of her husbands title, once again wondering what it would take for her mother to call him by his given name.

This was the first time that Elizabeth and Jonathan Prentiss had visited their home, even though they had lived there for a year, but Emily had shown them the listing online when they had bought it. She still remembered her mothers comments about how a 4 bedroom house seemed excessive for, at the time, just her, Hotch and Jack. Her response of wanting to create a home had fallen somewhat on deaf ears, but she knew that her mother didn’t understand her desire for something solid after so much upheaval in her life. 

“Let’s go meet your grandparents.” She said to Wren as she picked her up off the changing table. She walked down the hallway towards the stairs and, gently, descended down to the main living area of the house. She spotted her parents sat in the living room, and guessed Hotch was somewhere making drinks for them. “Mother, Dad.” 

They both turned to her and smiled, her mother immediately standing and walking over to her. 

“Oh, Emily.” She said, her voice uncharacteristically kind, especially given Emily’s attire of sweatpants and a baby sweater, “Look at you.” She hugged her daughter briefly, before looking at the small baby in her arms. “She looks just like you did when you were born.” She stroked her finger gently over the baby’s head. “Can I hold her?” 

Emily nodded, not full sure how to handle her mother acting so maternally, and handed the baby over. Jonathan walked over gave his daughter a hug, laughing at the perplexed look on her face. 

“Enjoy this whilst it lasts.” He whispered in her ear, before walking over and demanding time himself with his granddaughter. 

Emily stood and watched as her parents cooed over her daughter, and felt Hotch appear behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leant back into him, placing her hands over his on her hips.

“I have no idea what I’m watching.” She whispered conspiratorially to him, “I think they might be body doubles.” 

He laughed and pressed a kiss into the side of her head, “I’m sure order will be restored before you know it.”   
____________________________

Jack raced to the door after he heard a knock, his father explaining that it would be the team, and he threw the door open excited to see his aunts and uncles. 

“Uncle Dave!” He exclaimed, throwing himself at the man stood at the front of the group, “Guess what? My baby sister is here!” 

“I know, buddy. That’s so exciting.” 

“Jack, let them all in - it’s cold outside.” Emily’s voice called from somewhere inside the house. It was the end of March after all, and she didn’t want the chill in the spring air getting into the house too much. Jack stood to one side and the team all filed in carrying all sorts of bags with them.

“We brought food and presents.” Garcia’s explained to Emily when she rounded the corner from the kitchen, looking a little taken aback by her team and the array of stuff they had with them. Garcia quickly abandoned her bags by the door and practically ran over to Emily giving her a hug. 

“Pen, please be gentle my entire body hurts.” Emily laughed, smiling at Garcia as she pulled away and sheepishly apologised. The rest of the team gave her a hug too, and all looked expectantly at her.

“Where is the baby?” JJ asked.

“Right here,” Hotch said from behind them, descending the stairs with Wren in his arms. By the time he had hit the bottom stair the rest of the team were over by him, barring Reid, debating who would get to hold her first. JJ won.

“Oh that’s nice,” Emily quipped, “I gave birth just over 36 hours ago and I’m old news.” She turned to Reid who was stood next to her still, “You ok Reid?”  
“Yeah, I got you something.” He said, proffering a small bag towards her, which she took before moving over to the couch, desperate to sit down. She pulled a jewellery box out of the bag and raised an eyebrow at him as he joined her. 

“You bought me jewellery?” She asked, vaguely aware of her daughter switching to Morgan’s arms behind them.

“I got it with the winnings from the pool. Felt weird to keep it for myself.” He explained, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. 

Emily opened the box and gasped when she saw what was inside. There were two necklaces in there, a set clearly meant for her and Wren. Both were silver chains with circular pendants. The larger of the two had a dandelion on it, and the smaller one had a single dandelion seed. Reid reached over and flipped the pendants over to show that the bigger one had an “E” on it and the smaller one had a “W.”

“I thought you could wear yours when you’re away on a case, and she could have hers when she’s older.” Reid explained, his nervousness at the gift increasing the longer Emily was silent.

“Reid.” She said softly, tears immediately flooding to her eyes, “You can’t do something this sweet to someone this hormonal.” She wiped away a stray tear from her face before leaning forward to hug him. “How did you get this done so quickly? she was only born yesterday and we didn’t share potential names with anyone. And we didn’t even know she was a girl.”

“I know a guy.” He replied, somewhat relaxed now he knew she liked the gift. 

“Of course you do.” She laughed, setting the box down on the coffee table. “Want to go meet her before Garcia steals her?”   
________________________

“You know what’s crazy?” Emily asked, tearing her eyes away from where Wren was eating in her arms. “I’ve already forgotten how much the contractions hurt.” 

“I thought the same after I had Henry, I think it is mother natures way of tricking us into having more than one.” JJ replied, laughter in her voice. 

The rest of the team had left after a couple of hours, but JJ had stuck around for a bit sensing that her friend could do with talking to someone else who was a mother, which is how they found themselves in the nursery. There was a small loveseat in there where they sat together. Emily had thought Hotch was insane for insisting they had one in there at first, but was already grateful that it meant she could have company whilst she fed the baby. They sat in silence for a moment as Wren stopped eating and Emily readjusted her clothing, before resting the baby on her shoulder so she could burp her.

“How are you feeling?” JJ asked, remembering the overwhelming feeling of being a new mother.

“Overwhelmed. In every sense of the word.” Emily answered honestly. “My hormones are still all over the place. This morning Aaron brought me a cup of my favourite tea into the hospital and I cried.”

“I remember that. I think Will was more scared of me after I gave birth than he was at any time during my pregnancy. Just remember it’s normal. And if you ever need to talk you know I’m here.”  
___________________________

“What are you staring at?” She asked with mirth in her voice, smiling at him as she gently rocked side to side with her fussy baby girl against her chest. She had just finished feeding and burping Wren and was now trying to get her to go to sleep. In the 48 hours since her daughter had been born Emily had learnt that she really didn’t like sleeping, and the only way she would drift off was in the arms of one of her parents. Hotch assured her that Jack had been the same in the beginning, and that she would grow out of it soon. 

“At how beautiful my wife is.” He responded from his spot on the couch, smiling at the sight of his wife and daughter in front of him.

“Oh please,” She replied rolling her eyes at him, “What’s doing it for you, the fact I haven’t slept in several days? The fact I more closely resemble a dairy cow than my former self, or is it the diaper?” She wiggled her hips slightly with an amused glint in her eye so the material below her sweatpants would rustle, he laughed in response and stood up to press a kiss into her forehead. 

“Motherhood suits you, Em.” He said into her skin, before shifting his gaze to the now sleeping baby in her mothers arms. “She’s asleep, want me to take her up?” 

“Yes please, I’ll meet you up there.” She gently handed Wren over, careful not to wake her and therefore have to start this process all over again. Emily pressed a quick kiss to her daughters cheek before Hotch walked towards the stairs up towards their bedroom. 

Emily sighed to herself as she stood in her living room, alone for the first time since Jessica had come round almost 3 days prior. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and took a moment to herself before she joined her family upstairs. It felt odd when she considered how much life had changed in such a short period of time, and that there was a whole new person in her family who relied on her. 

She gingerly walked up the stairs, her body still entirely too sore to take the steps at her normal pace, and she popped her head into Jack’s room to ensure he was still asleep. When she made it to her own bedroom she saw Hotch had laid Wren down in the bassinet on her side of the bed and he had changed into his pyjamas and was sat on the end of the bed

“How are you?” He asked quietly

“Sore, exhausted beyond belief. Incredibly happy.” She answered as she sat next to him, wincing as she did so. She leant her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. His hand came to the side of her head to stroke her hair, and she thought to herself if he kept it up she’d fall asleep right there sitting up.

“I can’t believe Reid bought my wife jewellery.” Hotch said, causing Emily to laugh against his shoulder.

“Shut up. It’s sweet. Anyway aren’t you supposed to buy me something? I think Garica said it’s called a push present.” 

“I have, but I’ll give it to you in the morning. You should get into bed, Em. Get some sleep whilst you can.” He kissed her head and stood up, guiding her up too through her protests. He laughed when she groaned at him in response. “Come on, she’ll be up again in a couple of hours.”

‘You can’t tease me with the existence of a present and then not give it to me.” She protested, although it was weak and she knew she would be asleep within minutes, present or no. She made her way to her side of the bed, before she pulled back the covers and got in. Hotch did the same on his side, turning out his bedside lamp and putting the room into darkness. Emily turned towards the bassinet, but reached behind her for his arm and pulled him toward her so his chest was against her back.

“Love you.” She murmured, and he smiled at how sleepy she already sounded even though her head had only just hit the pillow. 

“Love you too, sweetheart.” He replied, pressing a kiss to her neck. He wrapped his arms around her and drifted off to sleep himself.

They were woken up just less than two hours later by the baby crying, and as Emily fed her she demanded her present from her husband. 

When he pulled a Tiffany bag out of his bedside table, and showed her the ring inside that matched her engagement and wedding bands, explaining he was going to get it engraved with Wren’s birth date for her, Emily swore she had never loved him more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think, your comments always make me smile :) 
> 
> Not sure where that scene with Reid came from if I'm honest, but once I thought of it I had to keep it in!! 
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> SequinSmile x


	6. The Good Mom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> So, unsurprisingly, this is just fluff. This is largely a filler chapter - there is some more stuff to come in this story with Emily's mother becoming a senator, and Emily's return to work after having the baby etc.
> 
> But, since we were robbed of Mom Emily in the show, here is pretty much a whole chapter of just that.
> 
> Enjoy!

Hotch woke suddenly to his alarm clock and groaned, scrambling to turn it off as quickly as he could so it wouldn’t also wake his wife and little girl. His two weeks off work had gone by in a blur of laughter, happiness and sleep depravation. He turned over expecting to see Emily fast asleep next to him and Wren in her bassinet, but was greeted instead with the sight of his wife sat up in bed with the baby cradled to her chest. Emily’s eyes were closed put her hand repeatedly rubbing Wren’s onesie covered back signalled that she was awake. 

Emily opened her eyes and looked at him as he shifted in the bed to sit up next to her. “Your daughter seems to think that sleep is for the weak.” 

“How long have you been up?” He asked, leaning in for a quick kiss. He looked down at his daughter who was pressed against her mother’s chest, wide awake and blinking her dark brown eyes up at him.

“About 45 minutes, maybe an hour. She needed feeding but then has refused to go back to sleep since, haven’t you baby?” Emily addressed the last part to Wren, kissing the top of her head. The baby cooed as if she was responding, causing both of her parents to laugh. 

Hotch watched them both fondly, placing his hand over his wife’s on Wren’s back.“You should have woken me up, Em.”

“You have work today, you needed to get some sleep.” She replied, looking at him sleepily. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she was wearing one of his old button downs and she looked so tired. 

It was a conversation they had many times in the two weeks since Wren was born. Their daughter really didn’t like to sleep too much and still would only fall asleep when she was being held, so Emily took most of the night shifts. He had offered to help several times but his wife had said she was happy to do it, saying it made the most sense since he was going back to work and she was, as she put it, Wren’s food source. 

He got up off of the bed and moved around the room grabbing his suit for the day. He looked back at the bed and saw Emily looking down at the baby, a satisfied smile on her face telling him that Wren had finally drifted off. 

“You should try and get some more sleep, even if it’s only another hour or so.” He said softly, knowing his wife would cause him bodily harm if he woke up their daughter at this stage. 

“I’ll do my best.” She replied, gently moving from where she was sat at the headboard of the bed so she could lay Wren down. “You’re ok to take Jack to school still?”

He nodded the affirmative before heading into the ensuite to shower and get ready for work. Twenty minutes later when he was done and walked back out to his bedroom.

Emily was laying back down in bed with Wren in the bassinet, both of them asleep. He smiled at the sight in front of him and quietly walked over, sitting on his side of the bed so he could lean over his wife to turn off her bedside lamp. She groaned a bit as she felt the bed shift next to her, and clumsily kissed him back when he leant down and pressed a kiss to her lips. 

“I’ll call if we catch a case.” He whispered, moving some hair from her face. 

“Okay, stay safe.” She murmured, not opening her eyes as she leant forward to kiss him again. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

____________________________

“Wren cries a lot.” Jack commented from his booster seat in the back of the car. He’d been quiet all morning, uncharacteristically so and had barely spoken since they had got in the car. 

Hotch looked at his son in the rearview mirror, and noticed the look of concern on his face. “She’s a baby, it’s the only way she can let us know she wants something. She’s ok though.”

“She keeps you and Emily awake though, and then you’re tired all the time.” Jack frowned as he said it, the creasing of his eyebrows reminding his father so much of Haley. 

Hotch pulled the car up outside of school and put the car in park before turning back to look at his son. “She doesn’t keep you up does she?”

“Not really,” Jack reached down and undid his seatbelt before looking back up at his father. “I hope she starts to sleep better soon.” He then grabbed his bag and opened his door. “See you later, Dad.” He jumped out the car and closed the door, running towards his group of friends waiting for him.

Before Hotch could think about the exchange with his son any further his cell phone rang and he saw Garcia’s name on the screen.

“Hotchner.” 

____________________________

Emily was stood sorting out some laundry, wondering not for the first time in the last two weeks how such a tiny baby could create so much washing. 

“You sure go through a lot of clothes don’t you?” She said to the little girl curled against her chest. The baby wrap that JJ had bought her was turning into a godsend, and if Emily was honest she got as much comfort out of having her baby as close to her as Wren apparently did. She looked down and saw the baby’s eyes were open, and she smiled. “Good think you’re so pretty.” She run a finger down her daughter’s nose, internally lamenting again that she had passed it on to her. 

The ringing of her phone snapped her out of the moment and she grabbed it off of the top of the washing machine. Her husbands name flashed across the screen, and she smiled when she looked at the photo of him, Jack and Wren that she had as his contact photo. The picture had only been taken the weekend before, Hotch had Jack in his lap and Jack was holding Wren, her two boys were wearing their matching smiles pointed at the camera, and Wren was looking up at her brother. 

She glanced at the time and realised it had only been 3 hours since Hotch had left the house, meaning he was likely calling to tell her he was leaving for a case. Emily answered the phone.

“Hey, how are you?” She said as she answered. She heard him sigh through the phone. “Where are you going?” She asked, knowing he had been hoping that his first day back wouldn’t lead to a case.

“Texas. It’s a pretty bad one.”

“It usually is if we end up involved.” She replied, walking away from the laundry room and towards the living room, the hand not holding the phone to her ear moving aimlessly up and down Wren’s back.

“I’m sorry, Em. I really hoped this wouldn’t happen today.” He sounded almost angry at himself.

“It’s not your fault, honey. I get it. Just please look after yourself - I need you back in one piece.” She placated, the rarely used pet name for him slipping out in an attempt to comfort him. 

“I will,” He paused for a moment and she heard Rossi in the background calling his name. “I’ve got to go.”

“That’s ok,” She replied, suddenly feeling quite emotional and cursing her lack of sleep and hormones for the lump in her throat. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, all of you.” 

“I’ll send you a photo any time she does something cute.” She offered, knowing how he felt about being separated from Wren for the first time since she was born.

He laughed at that, and the sound soothed her own fears, “If you did that, sweetheart I’d never have any time to work the profile.” 

She let out a watery chuckle herself, “Ok every other cute thing she does then.” She joked, and she heard Rossi in the background again. “I’ll let you go, call when you can - you know I’ll be up with ‘little miss I hate sleep’.” 

He laughed at that,“Will do. I love you, sweetheart.”

“You too.” She said as she hung up, sighing to herself as she did. She took a deep breath and wiped away the stray tear from the corner of her eye as she re-centred herself. She looked down at her baby again. “Right you, I think it’s time I tried to lay you down for a nap.” 

____________________________

It was only when it was time to leave to pick Jack up from school that Emily realised she hadn’t left the house with the baby by herself yet. She briefly considered calling Jessica and asking her to get Jack, but then resolved to do it herself. She felt oddly proud of herself when she had made it to Jack’s school with plenty of time left over for pick up with minimal fuss from her mini-me, who had only cried for the first 5 minutes of the car journey. 

She moved Wren from the car seat to the stroller and walked over to the school gate, deciding that was the best place to wait for Jack to emerge. Emily smiled when some of the other mums came over to coo over the baby, proud to show off her daughter. 

“Emily!” She heard Jack before she saw him, and smiled and waved as the young boy barrelled towards her. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Hi Jack,” She gave him a squeeze, “How was school?” 

“It was good,” He replied before looking into the stroller Emily was stood next to, “Hi Wren.” He looked back up at Emily, “Where’s Dad? Will he be home tonight?” 

“Sorry buddy,” Emily replied, moving the stroller so they could all walk back to the car, “Dad had to go away on a case, so it’s just you me and Wren for a few days.” 

Jack frowned slightly, having got used to the four of them being together for the last couple of weeks with no interruptions from the outside world. “Can we watch a movie or something?” He asked, looking up at Emily.

“We’ll see Jack, depends on how much homework you have to do.” She answered, but saw the look of disappointment on his face. “But I think we can make something work.” 

If Hotch was here he’d call her a pushover, but the smile she got in return was all she needed to know she’d made the right call.   
____________________________

After Jack had gone to bed Emily had gone to her own bedroom having laid Wren down to sleep a couple of hours before. She knew it was only a matter of time before the little girl wanted to be fed again so Emily was desperately trying to claw back some alone time with her favourite book. She sat in the small chair they had in the corner of their room and desperately tried to concentrate enough to read, but found herself nodding off.

Emily was suddenly awakened by a loud cry, and it took her a moment to realise she had fallen asleep in her chair. She stood as quickly as she could, her body still healing from only giving birth recently, and she walked over to the bassinet.

“Hey there little girl you’re ok.” She soothed as she picked Wren up. She lifted the baby slightly to her chest, resting her head on her shoulder and she caught a wiff of the diaper. “Let’s get you changed before I feed you.” 

Emily walked out of the bedroom and towards the nursery, where she proceeded to change the baby, and she then sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room to feed her daughter. She still found nursing an odd experience, but she loved it and enjoyed spending the time just watching Wren. 

As she finished up and burped the baby she heard a strange noise coming from Jack’s room next door. She frowned slightly and left the nursery to stand outside Jack’s door. She heard the noise again, it sounded like a groan, and decided to open the door. 

Inside she saw the little boy twisted in his bed sheets as he tossed and turned, and she felt her heart constrict in her chest as she realised he was having a nightmare. She shifted Wren in her arms so she could secure her against her chest with one arm, and she sat on the edge of Jack’s bed. 

Emily shook him slightly, “Jack, baby. You need to wake up.” She ran her hand over his hair and shook him again. “Jack.” She repeated, louder this time, and it seemed to do the trick. He sat up suddenly as he took in his surroundings and saw Emily’s face in the light provided by his nightlight. “You’re ok, honey. It’s just me.” She reassured as she cupped his face in her hand.

That’s all it seemed to take for Jack to break as he burst into tears, leaning against Emily’s chest next to the baby and sobbing into her shirt. Emily ran her spare hand up and down his back, and she leant down to press a kiss to the top of his head.

“You’re ok. I’ve got you.” She whispered, holding him close as he cried it out, thankful that Wren was by some miracle keeping calm at the moment. 

After a few minutes Jack calmed down and pulled back slightly, and Emily ran her finger over his cheeks to wipe away some of his tears. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked. He shook his head indicating the negative, “Do you want to come sleep with me?” 

Jack’s eyes moved to the baby still cradled against her chest, and Emily smiled at him.

“She will probably wake us up in a few hours, but we should be able to get some sleep in before she does.” 

Jack seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding, and Emily leant forward to press a kiss into his forehead. She stood from the bed and grabbed his hand leading them back to the master bedroom.

“You get into bed, I’ll just get her off to sleep.” She watched as Jack did as she asked and climbed into his father’s side of the bed. She paced back and forth for a few minutes holding Wren, aware of Jack’s eyes on her the whole time, and when the baby finally fell asleep she laid her down in the bassinet. 

Emily then climbed into bed next to Jack. She opened up her arms to him and he immediately settled into her embrace. She ran her hand up and down his back.

“I love you Jack, you know nothing will ever change that, right?” She felt him nod against her chest. “Good.” She continued to soothe him until she felt his breath even out indicating he had fallen asleep. 

Emily wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she heard her cell phone vibrate on the bedside table, and she grabbed it before it could wake up either of her children. She knew who it would be without even looking.

“Hi.” She whispered down the phone, looking at Jack who was still snuggled against her side to make sure he was still asleep.

“Hi sweetheart, I’m sorry it’s so late.” 

“No don’t worry. Haven’t had a chance to go to sleep yet.”

“Is something wrong?” He replied, and she could almost hear his concerned frown through the phone. 

“Jack had a nightmare, he’s in here with me and Wren.” 

“Is he ok?” 

“He is now.” She replied, smiling as she heard him shuffle around in his hotel room. “At least you’ll get a good night sleep tonight without a small baby waking you up every few hours.” He grunted in response, and she knew her poor attempt at a joke to make him smile hadn’t landed. “Sorry, I know you’d rather be here.” 

“Hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m home.”

“Hopefully. Juggling both the kids has been interesting today. It’s hard to keep a 9 year old entertained whilst looking after a two week old.”

“Come on, Em. You’re a fantastic mother. Even if I was there Jack would have wanted you when he was upset from his nightmare, and we both know Wren is obsessed with you.” 

Emily smiled at that, and closed her eyes as she wished her husband was right next to her. “Really?”

“Really. Needing you is something us Hotchner’s have in common.”

“Thank you, Aaron. That means a lot.” She replied, although it turned into a yawn.  
“I should let you sleep.”

“Not yet,” She shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “Just tell me a bit about the case.”

“Em.”

“Please? Just a few minutes.” 

“Fine, but just this once.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :)
> 
> Until next time, 
> 
> SequinSmile x


	7. The First Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Sorry for the slightly delay on this. Life has been weird lately...my landlady has asked me to move out and I've been dumped. Can't a girl catch a break?!
> 
> Anyway, heres a new chapter. As a side note, I realised I'd kind of been switching between referring to Hotch as 'Hotch' and 'Aaron' in the narrative of the story. I'll stick to just 'Aaron' from now on, since the majority of the story is around their relationship 
> 
> This is set late May 2014.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Emily woke up naturally. No alarm clock or crying baby bringing her to alertness. She blearily opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep away, taking the time on the clock on her bedside table in. 

08:04 

She suddenly became aware of the aching in her breasts and shot up. Wren should have woken her for a feed two hours ago. Slightly panicked, she looked to the bassinet where her daughter still slept at night and saw it was empty. As was the bed beside her. 

She rushed out of the bedroom, grabbing her cell phone as she went, and saw the light filtering under the door from the nursery. The sight that met her when she opened the door filled her heart so much she thought it might burst. Aaron was sat on the love seat they had in there with Wren nestled against his chest, Jack was knelt next to him, face pressed close to his sisters talking to her about his current obsession - dinosaurs. They were all oblivious to her presence until she snuck a quick photo of them before talking. 

“Well, why wasn’t I invited to this little party?”

Aaron looked up at her and smiled, “We’ve only been up for about 30 minutes. Wren here slept all the way through.” 

Emily raised her eyebrows at that as she approached. “Wow, there really is a first time for everything.” She leant down and kissed Jack’s forehead, giving his hair a ruffle for good measure, before kissing her husband briefly. “I should probably feed her though before she screams the house down.” 

“She is very loud when she’s hungry.” Jack piped up, making both the adults laugh.

Emily reached down and picked Wren up off Aaron’s chest, giving her daughter a wide smile as she brought her to her own chest. “Did you decide to be nice to Mommy and Daddy for once, huh?” She kissed her daughters head, breathing in the smell of her baby shampoo and chuckling slightly as Wren immediately started rooting round her chest. “Ok, I get it.” 

“Can we have breakfast too, Dad?” Jack asked, realising he was hungry himself. They’d explained breastfeeding as well as they could to him, bearing in mind he was 9, and he understood that it meant the baby was eating.

“Sure buddy, why don’t you go start getting stuff ready.” Aaron answered. Jack was running out of the room before he could register what had happened, the young boy talking about how much he wanted pancakes. Aaron shook his head adoringly at his sons behaviour before turning his attention to his wife who was now staring down at their daughter as she fed her and rocked her slightly. 

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss into the side of her neck before looking down at their baby in her arms. “Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.”

She smiled and tilted her head back to kiss him on the lips. “Happy Anniversary.” She said against his lips before pressing another kiss there. She turned back to look at Wren. “Can you believe it’s been a year?” 

He shook his head, “It’s gone so fast.”

“I guess we were rather busy.” She smiled, referring to the baby in her arms. When she had found out she was pregnant with Wren and had the dating appointment she’d figured out they had only been married a month when she got pregnant. When they eventually told the team that she was expecting they had made fun of them royally for it happening so quickly. The Hotchner’s never told them they had already been trying for several months. 

Emily lifted the baby to her shoulder to burp her as she rearranged her shirt. She started to pat Wren’s back as she turned to face her husband. “I’m sorry we can’t spend tonight just the two of us.” 

“It’s ok, Em. You can’t control what your mother choses to do.”

Emily huffed at that. They were spending the evening at an event for her mothers political campaign, and Emily had been more than a little outraged when her mother insisted they still came, even if it was their first wedding anniversary. “I still find it hard to believe she didn’t realise what the date was.” 

“You know I’m not one to defend your mother, but I really don’t think she purposely planned this gala to land on our anniversary.”

Emily hummed disbelievingly in her throat. “You’re more trusting than I am, Agent Hotchner.”   
_____________________________________

Emily smiled as she heard her phone start to ring. She had been out of the house for an hour, leaving Aaron with Jack and Wren, and he was already calling her. Since they were out tonight he had organised for her to go get her hair done. She knew it was part of his campaign to get her used to spending time away from Wren, given that she was now half way through her maternity leave and she hadn’t spent more than 30 minutes apart from her baby whilst she was awake. 

She felt antsy, already uncomfortable to be spending the evening away from her, and she knew this call would be more for her than him. Aaron was a great father, it’s one of the many things that made her fall in love with him in the first place, and she didn’t ever doubt him for a second. She answered the phone. 

“Your daughter hates me.” 

Emily rolled her eyes slightly, but felt a tightening in her chest when she could hear Wren crying in the background. “ _Our_ daughter does not hate you.” 

“Well she prefers you.”

“It’s the boobs Aaron, not me.” She retorted, blushing slightly when the hair stylist she was sat in front of smirked at her in the mirror. The usual small talk that came with getting your hair styled had largely revolved around her 8 week old baby girl. She heard him chuckle in disagreement. If she was honest, she knew Wren was a total mommy’s girl, but she didn’t want her husband to think their daughter didn’t like him. “Is she ok?” 

He huffed slightly into the phone, “She’s fine, just a little fussy.” 

“Maybe we should cancel tonight.” Emily worried her lip in between her teeth, wanting just about any excuse to get out of the evening plans. “Mother would understand I’m sure.” 

“Em, have you met your mother?” His voice was incredulous, and the sound on the phone changed indicating he had put her on speaker phone. 

Emily smiled as she heard him whispering words of reassurance to the baby, and she assumed he had picked her up. “Fair point.” She worried her lip between her teeth again as she heard Wren calming down on the other end of the phone. “I’ll be home soon.” 

___________________________________

Emily considered her reflection as she put the finishing touches to her make up. The dress she had chosen was different to what she would usually wear to these events, her breasts were bigger than she was used to because of breastfeeding, and the normal cut she would go for at the front would likely count as indecent. Not that her husband would mind she was sure, but she knew her mother would have had some kind of comment. She’d opted for a dark blue floor length dress, that despite its higher neck was low in the back. She still felt unsure about her post-baby body, but tonight she actually felt good about herself for the first time in a while. 

That feeling only increased when she walked downstairs and saw the look on her husbands face, which made her blush slightly considering JJ was stood right next to him holding Wren in her arms.

“You look, beautiful.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips as she stood next to him. 

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” She loved him in a tux. Hell, she loved him in a suit. 

“Yes, you both look lovely, don’t they Jack?” JJ piped in, reminding the pair that she was there alongside their children. 

Emily shot her friend a look, “Thank you JJ.” As she stepped away from her husband. 

“Emily you look really pretty.” Jack said, stood next to JJ holding his favourite board game, clearly planning on convincing the woman to play with him the moment his parents were gone.

“Thank you, sweetie.” She smiled at him, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead, wiping away the smear of lipstick she left there. “You behave for JJ ok?” She smiled again when the little boy nodded. “Good, now hug Dad goodnight.” Jack rushed past her to Aaron and threw his arms around his dad’s waist. 

Emily looked at her small daughter in JJ’s arms and felt a pang in her chest, the smile slipping off her face. “Are you sure this is ok?”

“Em, it was ok when you asked several weeks ago. And last week.” A smirk came across JJ’s face. “And yesterday. Of course it’s ok.” 

“Sorry,” Emily was uncharacteristically sheepish. She hadn’t expected it to be quite this hard to leave her baby behind for only a few hours, and she was desperately ignoring the fact she was only a couple of months away from going back to work. “I’ve expressed some milk, which is-”

“In the fridge. Both you and Hotch have your cellphones on you in case I need to call and Jack knows where the first aid kit is.” JJ repeated the line Emily had given her earlier in the day. And the day before. “You have met, Henry right? I have done this before.” She teased.

“Sorry.” Emily repeated, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” 

“You’re a mom, I get it.” JJ answered, “Now give your baby a kiss and get out of here.” 

Emily smiled and did just that.  
__________________________________

Aaron would never stop being surprised at the events Elizabeth Prentiss could put on. This was definitely one for the books, and he was suddenly glad Emily had insisted he wear a tux, because he would have felt incredibly underdressed otherwise.

“I think I just saw an Ex-President.” He murmured in her ear as they stood in line to be greeted on the entrance by her mother and father.

“He’s a good friend of Mother’s,” She replied. “Our families used to summer together whenever we were in the US.” 

“Your childhood is endlessly fascinating to me.” He felt her elbow come back into his abdomen as they came to stand in front of her parents.

“Emily, Aaron.” Jonathan Prentiss exclaimed, pulling them each into a hug in a way that she knew her mother would deem inappropriate for the setting. Emily knew her father was caring less and less for the self imposed customs as he was getting older. “How is that precious granddaughter of mine? And Jack?” 

Emily and Aaron both smiled as they thought of their children, “They are good thanks, Dad.” She said, “I’ll show you some new photos later.”

“Please do.” 

Emily turned to her mother, “Mother, this is incredible.” She said as she looked around the ballroom they were in. 

“Thank you, Emily.” She turned her head to Aaron and nodded at him. “Agent Hotchner.” 

“Ambassador Prentiss.” He returned, matching her tone. 

“Happy Anniversary to the both of you.” Elizabeth said, using her best politicians voice. 

“Thank you, Mother.” Emily smiled tightly at her, “Speaking of which, Aaron. Let’s go get a drink.” She nodded at her parents. “We’ll see you both in there.” She linked her arm through her husbands and lead him into the ballroom.   
_____________________________________

Emily had only had her one glass of wine she was allowing herself for the evening, and she already felt slightly buzzed. She lamented slightly as she remembered the days of being a bottle down before she felt the affects of alcohol. “I’ve turned into such a lightweight.” 

Aaron smiled at her, taking a sip from his own wine. “Not drinking for almost a year will do that to you.” 

Emily hummed in response as she looked around the room watching people mingle with each other. “I used to get so drunk at these things.” 

“Even as a teenager?” Aaron quirked an eyebrow at her. He could love this woman for 100 years and still not know everything about her. 

“Especially as a teenager.” 

Elizabeth approached them, bringing them out of their little bubble. “You know, Emily, you are supposed to mingle at these things, not just hole up in the corner with your husband.” 

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes and simply smiled at her mother. “I don’t think I quite have the same appeal to all those wondering hands now I’m off the market and a mother.” She challenged. 

“Emily-” Her mothers tone was full of warning, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a man walking over to them.

“Elizabeth!” 

“Marcus,” Elizabeth crooned, reaching over to shake the name of Senator Roberts, “You remember my daughter Emily? This is her husband Agent Hotchner.” The Senator nodded his greetings at the couple stood next to Elizabeth. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Marcus.” 

“Hasn’t it just?” He exclaimed, “I thought that this morning and had my PA check my calendar, it’s been exactly a year since we last got together. Hopefully we won’t leave it so long next time.”

“Exactly a year?” Emily piped up, drawing the attention of both of them. She felt Aaron’s hand press slightly firmer into her back. Her mother’s face didn’t change, not to the untrained eye, but Emily saw a slight shift.

“Yes, a year ago your parents came to a party my wife held at our place in the Hamptons.” Senator Roberts replied, a wistful look on his face that showed he had no idea the hole he had just dug Elizabeth into. Her mother had been in the country on her wedding day. She had lied to her. 

“How fun.” Emily replied, glad that her ability to compartmentalise her feelings had started to return as her postpartum hormones had lessened over the last few weeks, and thanks to the good night sleep she had just had. “Well, if you’ll excuse us I’m going to go dance with my husband. It is our wedding anniversary after all.” She levelled a look at her mother as she finished speaking before she grabbed Aaron’s hand and lead him to the dance floor. 

They pressed their joined hands between their chests, and his arm came around her back whilst hers moved around his neck as they started to slowly dance. “Em-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She pulled back from their embrace slightly so their eyes could meet, the heels she had worn this evening almost bringing her to his height. “Not here. Not tonight.”

He looked unsure. He knew she had always suspected her parents had been in the states on their wedding day, despite the fact they had claimed to be in Portugal, but having it confirmed would have no doubt upset her. “Sweetheart.” 

“I mean it, Aaron. Tonight I just want to dance with you, and then I want to go home and see our kids. I’ll deal with this tomorrow.” She implored him, a small smile coming to her face when he nodded his acceptance. “Besides, I still have to give you your anniversary present when we get home.”

He furrowed his brow at her, since they had already exchanged gifts before they left the house earlier that evening. She had bought him a new watch, his old one had fallen victim to a takedown of an unsub a few weeks back, and he had bought her a first edition copy of her favourite book. “The watch was plenty, Em.”

“Oh I think you’ll like this one.” She smiled at him in a way that he knew meant trouble, and it sent a shiver down his spine. She leant forward, pressing her lips close to his ear before she whispered. “I’m wearing it under this dress.”

Aaron suddenly wondered why they had ever left the house at all. She laughed at him, knowing the impact she had. “That’s so not fair.” 

“Do you know one of the things I love most about you?” She asked, pulling back again to look right at him. He shook his head in response. “How well you fit into this part of my life. You understand it, and know no matter how much we hate it we have to do it.” She moved her hand from the back of his neck up to the back of his head, carding her fingers through his hair. “I just really love you.” Her voice cracked ever so slightly, the first sign she had given that her mother’s lies had affected her. 

He used his arm banded around her back to pull her closer. He kissed her deeply, propriety and her mother, who was stood close by, be damned. When they pulled away he kept her just as close. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

________________________________________

She knew she wouldn’t be able to leave the party without saying goodbye to her parents. No matter how much she wanted to just sneak away it wouldn’t be worth the passive aggressive comments she would get from her mother whenever they next spoke. Which is how she found herself approaching then an hour after Senator Roberts had unintentionally unraveled their lie.

“We should get going.” She said as she stood in front of them. “Our friend JJ is babysitting and she has a son of her own to get home to.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth replied shortly, leading to her husband giving her a surprised look at allowing their daughter to leave so relatively early on. Emily assumed he didn’t know what had been revealed earlier in the evening. “Emily-”

“It’s fine, Mother.” She interrupted, really not wanting to get into it. “It’s fine.” She wasn’t sure if her mother believed her, Aaron certainly didn’t if the tightening of his grip on her hand told her anything. Elizabeth nodded in response and briefly hugged Emily before pulling away. 

Emily then hugged her father, genuinely smiling when he said to give Wren and Jack a big hug from him, and then they bid their final goodbyes before heading out of the ballroom. 

“Let’s go home.”  
____________________________________

He wasn’t sure what woke him, but as he reached across the bed to pull his wife closer all he felt was cold sheets. Aaron groaned as he rolled over and looked at the clock on the bedside table.

3.15am

He groaned again, assuming that their daughter hadn’t been as kind as she had the night before and had woken Emily up. He pulled himself out of bed, glad they had both pulled pyjamas on before they fell asleep, and left their bedroom in search of his wife. The nursery, where JJ had laid Wren to sleep just before they got home, was empty. He briefly popped his head into Jack’s room and saw that his son was still fast asleep. Aaron could see a light was on downstairs so headed down.

There, on the window seat in their bay window, was Emily with legs up as their daughter was laying on her chest. Emily had taken to sitting there and watching the world go by during her pregnancy, and this wasn’t the first time he had found her sat here with Wren since she was born. It was their spot, and he didn’t know if he should intrude. 

As always, he was sure she could read his mind. “You can come over, you know.” She turned to look at him, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. 

Aaron walked over to them and sat by her feet on the window seat. “Is she asleep?” Emily nodded her response but didn’t say anything else. “Do you want me to take her back up?” 

Emily tightened her grip slightly on Wren. “No, it’s ok.” She looked down at her daughter, smiling as she looked at her fast asleep with her head resting on her mothers shoulder, mouth wide open. “I know it’s ridiculous, but I really missed her tonight.

“That isn’t ridiculous, sweetheart. It was your first time away from her.” He squeezed her ankle when she made a disbelieving noise in her throat, and it drew her attention to him. “It’s not ridiculous.” 

“I’m meant to be going back to work in another 2 months. If it feels like this after only a few hours how will I manage with being away for several days at a time?” 

“You don’t have to go back.” It was a conversation they had several times throughout her pregnancy. It had been an argument more than once. She was determined to carry on working, citing that JJ had managed it. She loved her job, it was part of who she was. 

“I do, Aaron.” She shook her head at herself as she wiped a tear away from her cheek, annoyed that she was crying again. She felt like all she ever did was cry. She pressed a kiss to the top of Wren’s head.

He sighed, knowing this wasn’t something they would solve right now, not at gone 3am in their living room. “This isn’t what you’re actually upset about.” 

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Don’t profile me.” 

“I’m not.” He squeezed her ankle again. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Instinct lead her to shake her head. She really didn’t want to talk about it, but she knew she would feel better if she did. He always made her feel better. “They didn’t come to our wedding, Aaron. They chose not to come. All I keep thinking about is her,” Emily’s hand cupped the back of her baby’s head as she spoke, fingers running over the soft dark hair that laid there, “And how when she eventually gets married I’ll do anything to be there. I’ll do the same for Jack.” 

He could hear the unspoken question in her voice, so shifted closer to her so he could cup her cheek in his hand. “They do love you, Em.” 

She chuckled humourlessly as she leant into the palm of his hand. “Well they have a funny way of showing it.” Wren fussed very briefly, drawing both of her parents attention back to her, before she resettled against her mothers chest. “I’ll never make Wren or Jack feel like this.”

“I know that, sweetheart. You’re such an excellent mother, no matter what they’ll never doubt your love for them.” 

She gave him a watery smile, and he knew she had taken his words to heart.   
______________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!
> 
> The issue with Elizabeth will come up again, and there is more drama to come in Emily's relationship with her.
> 
> Until next time, 
> 
> SequinSmile 
> 
> xx


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Just a short update on this one since it's been a while.
> 
> Wren is now 4 months old. 
> 
> TW for Emily's past.

Emily was thankful that during her first week back at work they were grounded, all because of a court case they had been summoned to give evidence at. It was probably the first time in her career she was glad to be spending her week in a courtroom, purely because it meant she could go home to her baby girl at night and not worry about being called away at the drop of a hat.

She knew the case had only bought her an extra week, and that she was only prolonging the inevitable, but she was grateful for it. She was struggling with the idea of being away from Wren so much and she was starting to wonder if she was making the right decision to go back to the BAU. She hadn’t brought it up to anyone, even Aaron, and the fear that she could no longer do her job, or if she even wanted to do her job, was eating away at her.

“Jack’s off to school with Jessica. You almost ready, Em?” Aaron says as he pops his head into their ensuite, “You look incredible.” 

She rolls her eyes at him. “I look exactly like I always have at work, this is just the first time you’ve seen me in Prentiss mode for four months. Probably longer.” She adds the last part under her breath, knowing that she wasn’t exactly always put together towards the end of her pregnancy. 

“Not exactly like you always look at work.” He walks up behind her and puts his arms around her, pulling her back towards him. “You rarely wear a skirt.”

She huffed at him as she bent forward slightly to continue putting her mascara on in the mirror, purposely pushing her ass back into him a little harder than necessary. “Skirts aren’t exactly practical in the field, but in the courtroom they are just fine.” She puts the lid back on her mascara before putting it down on the counter. “Besides,” She turns in his arms and puts her hands on the back of his neck. “This way you have to sit next to me whilst I’m wearing this and not touch me, given that we have to maintain a professional distance and all.”

“You are an evil woman, Mrs Hotchner.” 

She smiles wickedly at him before pressing a firm kiss to his lips. “That’s Agent Prentiss to you.” She removes herself from his grasp and walks back out to their bedroom, smiling when she sees he has already laid our her credentials for her. “Is everything sorted for Rachel?” 

Rachel was the nanny they had hired to look after Wren whilst they were working. She had looked after the baby a couple of times for a few hours, but this was the first extended time and Aaron could tell Emily was nervous.

“Yes, she has the list and all of our numbers - including Jessica’s incase she needs to talk to someone whilst we are in court.” 

“Ok, that’s good.” She is fussing with her bag as she talks, looking for a lipstick he thinks, seemingly not actually taking in what he is saying. “And she knows about the expressed milk in the fridge.”

“Em, sweetheart.” He grabs her hands and she looks up at him, “She knows everything. She’s qualified for this you know that. And I happen to know you had Garcia do a very extensive, incredibly illegal background check on her.” 

Emily sheepishly looked down at that. “Pen was supposed to keep that to herself.”

“You know as well as I do that Garcia is incapable of keeping anything to herself.” He makes her laugh and he smiles at the sound. “Come on, let's go say goodbye to our daughter and go to work.” 

_______________________

“I forgot how much of a creep this guy is.” Garcia whispered to her from her right. They were sat in the courtroom waiting for the judge to reconvene from a short recess. 

“At least you never had to sit in an interrogation room with him.” Emily replies. “I can still smell his awful cologne.”

It had been a case they would all remember for a long time, and the fact it had happened right on their turf didn’t help matters. It also didn’t help that Emily had fit the unsubs victimology so perfectly. Aaron had come incredibly close to just sending her home when they were working the case, his concern for his pregnant wife meaning he was struggling to focus. He’d let her stay when she had convinced him that surely the safest place for her was in the bullpen with him and surrounded by other FBI agents. 

Things only got worse when they caught the guy, Jason Drew, and they needed a confession. When Rossi had suggested Emily was the one to do the interrogation she thought that Aaron almost imploded with rage. She hadn’t particularly liked the idea either, but she knew it was their best chance. She’d done it, hated every second of it, but she got the confession. Which is how she found herself sat in a courtroom, with the guys defence attorneys claiming police coercion. 

“I still can’t believe Hotch let you go in there.” 

“Trust me, Pen. It took some convincing.” Emily replied, feeling the tension coming off her husband in waves as he was sat to her left. She nudged her arm into him slightly, the most physical reassurance she could provide in their current setting, and let her upper arm rest against his for a fraction too long for it to be considered a mistake. “By the way, we’re going to have a little chat about the meaning of the phrases ‘just between us’ and ‘don’t tell Aaron about the background check’ on our next girls night.” 

Garcia at least has the decency to blush, but before she can defend herself the judge re-emerges from his chambers and the moment is lost. 

_____________________

By the end of the day Emily is reminded of why she hates court days so much. She had been cross examined all afternoon by the defence attorneys, and they weren’t even done yet. The judge had called recess and as they left the courthouse Emily lets out a small sigh at the idea of having to do all of this again tomorrow. It was nice to be with the whole team though, despite the circumstances. 

“I think you deserve a drink after that, gum drop.” Garcia says from next to her, “my treat?”

“You including me in that offer baby girl?” Morgan jokes from behind them as they make their way to the street.

“Fine, Derek Morgan. I’ll buy the first round but you owe me.” Garcia chided, linking arms with him as they walked.

“I don’t know guys,” Emily hesitates, and the team all stop for a moment. “We should probably get home.”

JJ looks at her with sympathy in her eyes, knowing exactly what was causing Emily to want to leave. “Come on, Emily. Just one drink. Wren will still be there when you get home.” 

Emily looked at her friend before flitting her eyes over everyone. She did miss them, so much, and their down time as a group was always limited. She looks to Aaron who is stood to her left, and he gives her an encouraging smile. “Ok fine, one drink.” 

“Fantastic, this way Reid can talk to you about the latest Sci-Fi bore he’s been to see.” Rossi quips, laughing when Reid looks affronted. They walk a few paces towards the nearest bar before they are interrupted. 

“Emily Prentiss?” A voice calls out from behind her, and she turns to see a man she had never seen before stood a few paces behind them. He had an audio recorder in his hand. “I’m Kevin Alright from the Washington Post, I wondered if I could ask you a few questions.”

“Any questions about the case have to go directly through the FBI press office.” She replies, the age old response they all have to dole out in these circumstances. She turns again, back to her friends and husband who had all made it a few steps past her.

“It’s not about the case, it’s about your mother’s hopeful Senate election.” 

Emily sighs and turns back to him, taking a step closer. “I’m sorry, I don’t comment on my mother’s politics.” That was the case even privately, knowing there were a lot of things her and her mother held very different views on. Since Elizabeth had started the race for Senator Emily had purposely avoided anything to do with it, despite her mothers attempts to draw her family into her campaign. “I should get going.” 

She turns back to her friends again, and isn’t surprised to find Aaron is stood right next to her, a protective look on his face, as he places his hand on her shoulder. She’s about to chastise him for being ridiculous, that a reporter with nothing more than an audio recorder and a wish for a juicy story could do nothing to hurt her, but then the man continues to speak. 

“I just thought you would have something to say about the comments your mother made last week about Roe vs Wade, considering you had an abortion yourself back in 1985.”

She feels Aaron’s hand grasp her shoulder tighter, and she hears gasps from her friends in front of her, and she knows her best guarded secret has been torn open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a direct continuation, this just felt like a good place to split it. 
> 
> Also, I am planning a chapter for "In the Cracks of Light" that is the case they are in court for in this chapter. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> SequinSmile x


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> This continues directly on from the last chapter
> 
> TW for Emily's past

For a moment she doesn’t register anything beyond what the stranger in front of her had said. Her senses go dull, and she feels the panic twirling at the edge of her mind. All of a sudden her awareness comes back all at once, slamming into her with a force she hasn’t felt since the days after she returned to DC from Paris. She’s vaguely aware of her husband telling the reporter they had no comment.

“Emily.” Aaron’s voice is close, closer than she expected, and she looks to see him stood right next to her, pressed up against her with his hands on her cheeks and his nose within touching distance of her own. “Are you ok?” 

She can tell as he asks it that he knows she isn’t. “I want to go home.” She gets out, surprised that her voice sounded so strong. 

“Of course.” He removes his hands from her cheeks and places an arm around her to move her away from where they are. He turns to Morgan, “Derek.” He flicks his head towards the reporter and with that and utter anger in his voice Morgan understands completely.

“Yes, sir.” Morgan stalks off towards the reporter behind them, forcing the man to walk away from the scene whilst saying something Emily can’t hear. 

Aaron guides Emily towards where their car was parked before saying anything else to their team. They stand in silence for a moment before JJ speaks.

“1985. That would have made Emily-”

“15.” Reid interrupts. “She would have been 15.”

Garcia gasps “Oh my poor gumdrop.” 

“She wouldn’t want us stood here talking about it,” Rossi says, able to recover the quickest since had already known about this for some time, “Lets go help Morgan with that reporter.” 

______________________

Once they are sat in the car Aaron doesn’t even turn on the ignition, he turns to look at his wife who is staring straight ahead.

“Sweetheart.”

“I just want to go home, Aaron.” She turns to look at him, barely restrained emotion in her eyes, “I want to see the kids and for a moment pretend this didn’t happened.”

He relents, knowing they will have to talk about it at some point, “Ok. Lets go home.” He starts the car and they drive in silence for the majority of the journey.

Her quiet voice breaks the silence, and voices what they both knew the moment the reporter had spilled her secret onto the street outside the courthouse. “They are going to have called my mother too.”

______________________

“Dad?” Jack says from behind him, causing him to turn from where he is filling the dishwasher, “Is Emily ok?” 

Aaron wasn’t sure how to answer that. They had a policy of not lying to Jack, but there is no way his 9 year old son would come close to understanding what had happened today. “She’s just had a long day buddy.” 

“She seems sad.” Jack replies, “She’s watching one of those reality shows. She only does that when she’s sad.” 

“I have an idea,” Aaron says, stepping towards Jack as if they were going to conspire. He smiles at his son as he also takes a step inwards. “Why don’t you go give her a massive hug, that always cheers her up.” 

Jack nods before running off to the living room, and Aaron finishes up in the kitchen before following him making sure he picks up the baby monitor on the way past. He finds his wife and son snuggled up on the couch, a blanket over them, and the tv turned to a more child friendly show than whatever Real Housewives of whatever Emily had been watching before Jack joined her. He looked at the time and saw it was almost 8.30pm. 

“Jack, it’s almost time for bed.” He comments as he joins them on the couch, sitting on Emily’s spare side. She immediately leans into him, dragging Jack with her.

“Come on, Dad. Just one more episode.” Jack whines. He was well known for avoiding bedtime at the best of times. 

“Yeah, come on, Dad. One more episode.” Emily teases, and when she turns to look at him he can see the teasing smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but the time with Jack had clearly done her some good. 

“Fine,” He relents, “I hate it when you two gang up on me. Let’s hope Wren takes my side when she’s old enough. 

“Unlikely.” Jack mutters under this breath, and he feels Emily chuckle against him. 

They sit there and watch another episode together before Jack goes to bed. He usually puts himself to bed these days, claiming he didn’t need it, but he asks Emily to take him up and seems delighted with himself when she genuinely smiles at the suggestion. She turns and presses a kiss into Aaron’s cheeks as she gets up from the couch, murmuring something about the Hotchner men and their campaign to cheer her up into his skin, before she follows Jack up the stairs. 

Aaron spends a bit of time flicking through channels, not wanting to watch anymore of Jack’s cartoons if he can avoid it, when the doorbell rings. Given the time of day he knows there is likely one person it would be and he sighs to himself before getting up off of the couch and moving to the entrance of the house. He opens the front door and comes face to face with his mother in law. He doesn’t open it wide enough to indicate she can enter and for a moment they just stare at each other.

“Agent Hotchner, I need to speak to Emily.” Her tone was clipped and there was something else there that he didn’t recognise in the former ambassadors tone. 

He sighs, knowing that the last thing his wife needs in this moment is an argument with her mother. They hadn’t even had a chance to properly discuss it themselves yet. “Elizabeth, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

Elizabeth blows out a breath, in the same way he’s seen Emily do countless times over the years, and she speaks again, “Aaron, please. I just want to talk to her.” 

The use of his given name surprises him, and combined with the concern in her voice he finds that he believes her. He moves aside and lets her in the house, closing the door behind her. “Emily is just putting Jack to bed, she’ll be down soon.” 

Elizabeth nods in response and looks around the main living area of the house her daughter shares with her husband, and it isn’t lost on her that this is only the second time she has been here. It is clearly a home where children live, toys that she assumes must be Jack’s in the living room and all the paraphernalia that comes with having a baby strewn throughout the house. What strikes her the most are the photos all over the walls and in frames on just about every surface she can see. Pictures of Jack as a small child as well as more recent photos of them as a family. She notes pictures from their wedding, and a photo of a very young looking Jack with a blonde woman she knows to be Haley. Elizabeth picks up a photo right in front of her, its a picture of Emily holding Wren on the day she was born, and Elizabeth smiles slightly at the happiness leaking out of the picture.

“Mother?” Emily’s voice calls from behind her, and Elizabeth turns to look at her as she puts the framed photo back down. 

She looks at her daughter and considers that this might be the first time in a long time that she has really seen her. Despite the fact Emily knows she’s about to have a conversation about something she kept secret for almost 30 years, a conversation Elizabeth knows she never wanted to have, she looks resolute in her strength, the only outward sign of her nervousness is the way her index finger is picking at the skin of her thumb. 

Elizabeth had always been aware of her daughters strength, and she wonders how that young girl who used to tear around the embassy without any cares in the world became this woman stood in front of her. A woman raising a child that was not hers as her own, who has photos of her husbands first wife proudly displayed in her living room and who was able to find a way to build a new life out of the ruins of her old one. 

“I think we should talk, Emily.” 

______________________

They end up sat in the living room, and despite the fact she has just heard Emily tell Aaron she would be fine by herself Elizabeth is sure he is still somewhere within earshot.

“I don’t know where to start.” Emily admits. “How much do you know?” 

Elizabeth clears her throat. “That you were 15, which means we would have been in Italy.” 

Thinking about it now it seems obvious there had been a change in her daughter during their time in Rome. Emily had lost some of her more carefree attitude during their time there, and she had become significantly more guarded. At the time Elizabeth waved off her husbands concerns as Emily just being a teenager. 

Emily nods in response, “It was a long time ago now.” 

Sometimes it felt like it happened to someone else entirely, and the older Emily gets the more she realises just how young she was when it happened. Only six years older than Jack was now.

“You should have told me.” 

Incredulousness seeps into Emily’s expression for the first time since her mother arrived. “How could I have done that?”

“We would have figured something out, Emily.” 

Emily scoffs, but closes her eyes to ground herself. She can tell her mother is trying to understand, and this is already less confrontational than she expected, so she tries to remain calm herself. “What would you have done if I’d told you I was pregnant, mother? Your first instinct would have been to protect your image.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?” Emily implored, “When I sat there at 15 years old with a positive pregnancy test in my hands I saw all my options laid out in front of me and none of them were good.” 

“We could have figured something out.” 

“You would have sent me away so I could live out my pregnancy in hiding at some school somewhere, and then I would have come back without my baby. Tell me you wouldn’t have.” 

Elizabeth couldn’t respond, knowing that is exactly what she would have done at the time, and she averted her eyes from her daughters gaze.

“Exactly,” Emily continues, “There was no way it was going to end with me being a mother. I wish with every part of me that it didn’t have to happen, but I don’t regret my choices.” 

The silence in the room was deafening for a couple minutes after that, and Emily could hear Aaron shuffling paperwork in the dining room across the hall. She looks down at her hands in her lap and frowns at the blood she can see gathering at the edges of her thumb nails. She hadn’t even realised she’d been picking them. 

“You know I have very different views on this to you, Emily.” Her mother finally speaks, “But I’m not about to tear apart the last part of our relationship over something that happened nearly 30 years ago.”

Emily looked up from her hands to look at Elizabeth, shocked when she saw nothing but sincerity on her face. “I am sorry you had to find out about it.”

Elizabeth gave her a wry smile, “Sorry because I found out when a journalist rang asking for a statement, or sorry that I found out at all?”

“Can my answer be both?” Emily replies, “I am sorry though, Mother. My daughter is only 4 months old, and I keep thinking to myself how heartbroken I’d be if she felt she had to keep something like this from me.” 

“You’re already a better mother than I ever was, Emily. I have no doubt that Wren would come to you no matter what.”

Emily softens at that, feeling the threat of tears for the first time since she had heard the doorbell ring when Elizabeth arrived. “Mother-”

“I was always a politician first, and a mother second. As you pointed out yourself, if I had known at the time my initial reaction would have been about the family image.” 

Emily lets out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding at that. Not knowing until that moment how much she had needed to her mother admit her assumptions all these years had been correct. 

“What about the story?” Emily swallowed, the thought of everyone who read it knowing something so personal threatening to send her back into the spiral of panic she had felt just outside of the courthouse earlier that day. “Surely it will impact your campaign.” 

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Elizabeth dismissed, waving her hand in the air.” The story will never see the light of day.”

“What?” Emily replies, confusion colouring her face, unsure how her mother could be so certain. 

“I called that technical analyst of yours, asked if she would help me bury the story. She was more than willing to help.”

“I bet she was. Do I even want to know what you both did?”

“I think it’s best you and Aaron maintain a level of plausible deniability.” 

Emily lets out a small laugh, registering the fact her mother had used her husbands given name, “Fair enough.” She sobered and leant forward to grab her mother’s hand, the first physical contact they had all evening. “Thank you, Mother. I couldn’t bare it if..” Her voice trailed off, unsure how to phrase what she was feeling.

“No need to thank me, Emily. I might not ever win a Mother of the year award, but I didn’t do this for myself. I would do anything if it stopped you from getting hurt.” 

A cry through the baby monitor stops their conversation from going any further, and Emily quickly wipes a tear away from under her eye as her mother is distracted momentarily. “She need’s feeding.” Emily explains as she stands, grabbing the monitor and making a move to leave the room before turning back around. “Do you want to come with me? It’s been a few weeks since you’ve seen her.” 

Elizabeth stood and smiled at her daughter, “I’d love to.” 

______________________

“I have run that conversation through my head more times than I can count over the years, and it has never once going like that.” She mumbles into Aaron’s chest later that evening when they are alone in the darkness of their room. Wren now mostly slept in the nursery, although Emily found she struggled to get decent sleep without the baby nearby. 

He ran his hand up and down her back. “I almost didn’t let her in the house when she first arrived.” 

Emily laughs at that, imagining a scenario where he had refused to let her in. There were few people in the world who would stand up to Elizabeth Prentiss, and she just happened to marry one of them. “You’re sweet. Wanting to protect me from her.” 

He grumbles slightly, as he always does when she calls him sweet, and he leans back so he can look at her. Finding her eyes even in the darkness of the room. “Are you ok? That was a lot today.” 

She hums in her throat, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know. It’s not something I ever wanted anyone knowing about me, and now it’s out there. It will take some time to adjust.”

“They are your friends, Emily.” He says referring to the team, “Our family. They love you. Garcia managed to squash the story, and she mentioned something about planting a deadly virus on his computer but I told her to stop explaining it to me before I knew too much.” 

“Did they find out how the reporter knew?” She asks after a moment of silence, not even really knowing if she wanted the answer. “I can’t figure it out. I used a fake name at the clinic, it’s not even on my medical records.” 

“Derek tried to intimidate it out of him but he wouldn’t give a name.” He pauses before continuing, knowing the answer wasn’t a pleasant one. “Garcia found an email from John Cooley. Apparently he’s low on cash and read the article your mother released about your fake death a few months ago.” 

Emily doesn’t have a response to that, but wonders how on earth the man whose life she saved could let her down so badly. Again. “I’m surprised you didn’t send Derek to find him.” 

“I thought about it, but I figured you wouldn’t want that.” He replies honestly. For a hot second he’d thought about going to find John Cooley himself. Just like he had when Emily originally told him about it all the first time she got pregnant in their relationship. 

Emily is silent for a moment before speaker again. “I worry that when I see the team tomorrow they’ll look at me differently.”

“They better not.” He grumbled, making her laugh again despite her somber mood.

“What are you going to do? Scare them into being nice to me?” 

“If I have to.” 

She leans up to press a kiss to his lips. “I love you a ridiculous amount, you know that right?” 

“I do,” He kisses her back, “I love you too.”   
______________________

They meet the team outside the courthouse just like they had the day before, and before they even make it to where the group is standing Emily finds herself enveloped in a giant hug by Garcia.

She grunts with the force of the embrace before letting out a laugh. “Thanks, Pen. But I need to breath.” 

Garcia pulls away, but doesn’t let go of her. She doesn’t say anything, but her expression says everything it needs to.

“Thank you.” Emily repeats, smiling at her friend. 

Garcia finally lets her go and they walk over to the rest of the group. Emily can read them all like a book, despite their caveat as a group about not profiling each other, and she sees nothing on their faces except for concern for her and affection. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, and she lets Aaron lead her into the court with his hand placed firmly in the small of her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! 
> 
> In this universe Emily's relationship with her mother has always been tense, but I wanted this to be a more positive conversation between them, despite the circumstances. 
> 
> There will be one more chapter to this story. Then there will be a sequel set just over a year into the future if there is interest in it :)
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> SequinSmile x


End file.
